"Lots of nursery rhymes and kid’s songs have dark histories, strangely. As Christmas music and nursery rhymes often sound similar, one might wonder if Christmas music also has similarly strange origins. While Christmas music’s beginnings aren’t quite as surprising as some nursery rhymes, there is still lots of interesting history to uncover." -- Isaiah Kahn, 7th grade
1. Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells was published in 1857 and was originally going to be called “One Horse Open Sleigh” rather than “Jingle Bells.” It was changed to jingle bells as the song got more popular. Surprisingly, “Jingle Bells” was not intended to be a Christmas song as there is no reference to the holiday in the lyrics, and was instead likely intended to be a Thanksgiving song. There were also originally four verses to the songs.
2. Deck The Halls
This Christmas carol was originally titled “Deck The Hall,” until it became “Deck The Halls” in the late 19th century. The song has origins in the 16th century, being inspired by a Welsh carol named “Nos Galan.” This song was actually what made the phrase “‘Tis The Season,” associated with Christmas, as it is said in the lyrics of the song.
3. Silent Night
“Silent Night” was originally written in German, by an Austrian priest in the early 1800s. His congregation seemed to like the song, and two families of singers started including the song in their shows, where it gained rapid popularity.
4. O Come, All Ye Faithful
The first published version of this song is in the mid 18th century, though the song was created almost a century earlier. The English version of the song was translated in the 1840s, as it was originally written in Latin due to the Roman Orthadox Church.
5. Carol Of The Bells
This song has origins in Ukraine. The Ukrainian song, Shchedryk, is what Carol of the Bells is based off of. The original song wasn’t actually about Christmas, though it became associated with Christmas due to the lyrics mentioning “silver bells” at one point. Schedryk was created in the early 20th century, right before the Soviet Union took hold of Ukraine.
There are many other Christmas songs with interesting histories that aren’t covered in this article. These are just a few of many. Hopefully you found this article interesting, and if you are curious about other holiday music, Zara Quiter wrote an article on Hanukkah songs also for the OSA Telegraph.
Happy holidays!
Jingle Bells was published in 1857 and was originally going to be called “One Horse Open Sleigh” rather than “Jingle Bells.” It was changed to jingle bells as the song got more popular. Surprisingly, “Jingle Bells” was not intended to be a Christmas song as there is no reference to the holiday in the lyrics, and was instead likely intended to be a Thanksgiving song. There were also originally four verses to the songs.
2. Deck The Halls
This Christmas carol was originally titled “Deck The Hall,” until it became “Deck The Halls” in the late 19th century. The song has origins in the 16th century, being inspired by a Welsh carol named “Nos Galan.” This song was actually what made the phrase “‘Tis The Season,” associated with Christmas, as it is said in the lyrics of the song.
3. Silent Night
“Silent Night” was originally written in German, by an Austrian priest in the early 1800s. His congregation seemed to like the song, and two families of singers started including the song in their shows, where it gained rapid popularity.
4. O Come, All Ye Faithful
The first published version of this song is in the mid 18th century, though the song was created almost a century earlier. The English version of the song was translated in the 1840s, as it was originally written in Latin due to the Roman Orthadox Church.
5. Carol Of The Bells
This song has origins in Ukraine. The Ukrainian song, Shchedryk, is what Carol of the Bells is based off of. The original song wasn’t actually about Christmas, though it became associated with Christmas due to the lyrics mentioning “silver bells” at one point. Schedryk was created in the early 20th century, right before the Soviet Union took hold of Ukraine.
There are many other Christmas songs with interesting histories that aren’t covered in this article. These are just a few of many. Hopefully you found this article interesting, and if you are curious about other holiday music, Zara Quiter wrote an article on Hanukkah songs also for the OSA Telegraph.
Happy holidays!