Jingle_Bells.mid

As originally published, the song had a different melody as its chorus part, which was less joyful and more classical, Mozart-like sounding. It is unknown who replaced the chorus with its modern version.

The first verse and chorus are the most often sung (and remembered) parts of "Jingle Bells":

    Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh,
    O'er the fields we go, laughing all the way.
    Bells on bobtail ring, making spirits bright,
    What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight.

    Jingle bells, jingle bells,
    Jingle all the way!
    O what fun it is to ride
    In a one-horse open sleigh.

Although less well known than the opening, the remaining verses depict high-speed youthful fun. In the second verse the narrator takes a ride with a girl and loses control of the sleigh:

    A day or two ago
    I thought I'd take a ride
    And soon Miss Fanny Bright
    Was seated by my side
    The horse was lean and lank
    Misfortune seemed his lot
    We ran into a drifted bank
    And there we got upsot

In the next verse he falls out of the sleigh and a rival laughs at him:

    A day or two ago
    The story I must tell
    I went out on the snow
    And on my back I fell
    A gent was riding by
    In a one-horse open sleigh
    He laughed at me as I there lay
    But quickly drove away

In the next verse, he picks up some girls, times a horse, bets on it, and then takes off at full speed:

    Now the ground is white
    Go it while you're young
    Take the girls along
    and sing this sleighing song
    Just bet a bobtailed bay
    Two forty as his speed
    Hitch him to an open sleigh and crack!
    You'll take the lead

In spirit "Go it while you're young" the song anticipates the themes of songs about girls and cars of a century later like Chuck Berry's "Maybellene" or the Beach Boys' "Fun Fun Fun".