So, who can have Christmas without the song Jingle Bells?! Nobody! But here’s something you may not have known. Jingle Bells was written by James Pierpont in 1850 depicting stories of sleigh races held on Salem Street in Massachusetts in the early 1800’s. Oh, and did I also mention it was written and sung for Thanksgiving originally? Seems very strange to me, but perhaps back in the 1800’s sleigh races were to Thanksgiving what Football is to Thanksgiving these days.
It’s also strange that this of all Christmas songs has probably had the most paradies done of it than any other. I know you can all think of a few remakes of it…”Jingle Bells, Batman smells…” …you undoubtedly get the gist. Jingle Bells was the very first Christmas song my girls ever learned to sing, and of course, the very first one they learned an alternative version of as well.
No matter what the case, every time I hear it I have to sing along. It’s a fun happy song and I think of what it might have been like to live back in the days of horses and sleighs. Piling into one with your sweetheart and snuggling down under blankets and next to heated bricks to see the snow covered country side on your way to a grand Christmas party. My imagination is probably a lot more pleasant than it actually was, but a girl can dream right? I personally think sleigh races would be a lot of fun, but I’m sure I would likely have offended someone back in that day because I tend to be a bit unconventional at times, and not always on purpose either…I probably would have tried to manage the sleigh myself or hiked my skirt up a little far and accidently shown my ankles or something ridiculously inappropriate like that. Who knows. But it sounds like a fun time long before the age of technology ruined outdoor creativity and such.
Anyway, enough of my silly ramblings for the evening. I leave you with my new favorite version of this song, sung by the ever-so-nice-to-behold, Michael Buble! I love it because the energy of his version matches what I think the song was originally about. Plus the upright bass is totally rockin’!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf1_KykYpYs
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