Jingle Bells

I'm glad you returned today to listen to this jolly Christmas song called "Jingle Bells." The history of this song is more complicated than you might expect - it isn't associated with Christmas at all! It probably became a Christmas song because it mentions traditions associated with the time of year or the holiday itself. Thanks again for coming to listen!

Listen to the song here
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You might have always associated this song with Christmas, but it turns out that the song wasn't actually written with this holiday in mind (in fact, Christmas isn't mentioned in the song at all). It was actually written about Thanksgiving parties in the 19th century.

James Pierpont, the composer of the song, could have been inspired by the sleigh races of Medford, Massachusetts that were popular in the 1800s. According to CBC,  as the music director of a church in Savannah, he led the congregation to sing Jingle Bells. Because they liked the song, he performed it again at Christmas.

And because Christmas is already connected to sleighs, bells, and snow, the tune quickly became associated with Christmas, especially as it was recorded even more over the course of the next century.

Now, we're in 2019, and no one would ever know that Jingle Bells wasn't originally a Christmas song if we didn't have the history written down.

Whether you have an opinion that the world needs to hear, you need to remember driving directions for tomorrow, you're an adventurous Viking who just discovered a new continent, or a musical idea suddenly bounced into your head....

In the future, no one will ever know if you don't write it down. 

Keep filling your teacup with music!

~Liya