Surprising Origins of 6 Christmas Carols
If you listen to Christmas carols during your holiday shopping meltdowns or cozy cocoa nights, you might have wondered where these catchy tunes came from (or not). Nevertheless, some of these Christmas carols have surprising (and often weird) origins that are fun to know or for when there’s a Christmas trivia night you might want to join soon.
Christmas Carols origins
“Jingle Bells”
Per History, “Jingle Bells” was originally a Thanksgiving song. It was first performed for a Thanksgiving service and written by songwriter James Lord Pierpont in 1857. The song’s original title was “One Horse Open Sleigh” and was printed as such by a Boston music publishing house in 1857. However, when it was reissued after two years, the title became “Jingle Bells.”
It might come as a surprise that some of the lesser-known verses of the song describe “picking up girls, drag-racing on snow and a high-speed crash.”
“Silent Night”
Josef Mohr, a Catholic priest from Oberndorf bei Salzburg, wrote a poem called “Stille Nacht” to commemorate the coming of peace after the Napoleonic Wars. Two years later, Mohr asked Franz Xaver Gruber, a teacher and church organist, to set music to his poem before Christmas Eve mass. When an organ repairman, Karl Mauracher, attended the mass and heard the song, he took the music sheet to Tyrol, which is known for their choirs. The choirs began singing the tune and t spread around Europe, according to Smithsonian magazine.
“Deck the Halls”
Before it became a favorite Christmas carol, the “Deck the Halls” melody comes from a Welsh winter song called “Nos Galan” which is about another holiday, New Year’s Eve, per LiveAbout. When songwriter Thomas Oliphant got his hand on the Welsh melody, he changed the lyrics from the coming new year to the calling for decoration and merriment for the Christmas holiday.
“O Come All Ye Faithful”
The origins of the song “O Come All Ye Faithful” aren’t clear, however, according to musicologist, William H. Grattan Flood per America Magazine, the song “goes back to the first quarter of the 18th century, and are to be attributed to a Catholic source and for Catholic worship.” The hymn was also believed to be first associated with Catholic layman and music copyist John Francis Wade.
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Compared to other songs in this list, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s” origin was from a genius idea. It began as a promotional gimmick for the Montgomery Ward department store in 1939. Copywriter Robert L. May was tasked to create a Christmas story that the store could give away to shoppers. He wrote a book, and his brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, decided to turn the story of Rudolph into a song. The song was first recorded in 1949 by Gene Autry, per Smithsonian Institution.
“Hark the Herald Angels Sing”
“Hark the Herald Angels Sing” is a Christmas carol with a somewhat controversial origin. According to Pepperdine Library, Charles Wesley’s original version was published in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739 contained ten four-line stanzas and with a different first line. It was, “Hark! How All the Welkin Rings, Glory to the King of Kings.”
However, in 1753, without consulting Wesley, George Whitefield changed the line to “Hark, The Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the newborn King.” Naturally, Wesley wasn’t pleased and refused to sing this version of the hymn. If this happened today, it would be a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Next time you hear these Christmas carols playing on repeat while doing your last-minute Christmas shopping while standing in an endless checkout line, entertain yourself by thinking about these songs’ quirky origins. Behind each festive melody is a tale full of history, surprise, and even controversy. Happy caroling!
