Jingle Bells is not just one of the most famous musical compositions in the world. Every December it sounds literally everywhere and is subconsciously associated with the Christmas and New Year holidays. We checked whether the author of the song intended such a connection.

During its existence, Jingle Bells has become as integral an attribute of Christmas in America as a Christmas tree decorated with toys, garlands of branches, red and white mint sticks and gifts. Over time, the song penetrated into other countries, acquiring truly cult status. Hundreds of artists performed Jingle Bells covers at their December concerts, including great tenors Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo. In 1965, Jingle Bells became the first song to be performed broadcast from space.

There is still no certainty even about where and when the song Jingle Bells appeared. It is believed that the composition was created by the American James Pierpont in the mid-19th century, who received it was copyrighted in 1857 while living in Georgia. In the document, the song is called by its first line - The One Horse Open Sleigh, that is, “a sleigh drawn by one horse.” The author lived in Georgia for work, and in his homeland in the town of Medford, Massachusetts, there is a different version: supposedly Jingle Bells appeared in a local tavern back in 1850.

In the debate about which city became the birthplace of Jingle Bells, local authorities put forward different versions, but none of them are related to Christmas. The lyrics of the song do not mention the holiday itself, its traditional attributes and rituals and rituals associated with Christmas or New Year. In Massachusetts think, that the song is dedicated to sledding, which was a popular urban pastime back in the early 19th century. In Georgia are surethat Jingle Bells was a result of nostalgia for snowy New England winters, which were not a common occurrence in the southern United States.

According to a fairly popular version, Pierpont wrote a song for Thanksgiving in Sunday school, and liked the composition so much that the children were asked to perform it again at Christmas - supposedly this is how the connection with the holiday appeared. It’s hard to believe in this hypothesis: the third and fourth are now forgotten couplets they talk about a solitary sleigh ride between a young man and a girl. It is unlikely that such a text could be performed in a religious institution. Kina Hamill from Boston University believesthat Pierpont composed the song solely out of commercial interest, and the theme of a sleigh ride away from prying eyes was quite popular in the middle of the 19th century. “Everything in this song is done as a carbon copy of other songs, there is nothing original in it. He [Pirpont] was just making money,” the researcher is sure. At the same time, Hamill disputes versions provided by local authorities in Georgia and Massachusetts.

How, then, did Jingle Bells become associated with Christmas? In 1898, the song was recorded by the Edison Men's Quartet. By versions Hamill, it was after this that the composition became widely associated with the winter holidays. The song was most famous in the 1930s and 1940s, performed by orchestras led by Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby and, of course, Glenn Miller - it is this 1941 version that we often hear on the streets and in stores when we go shopping for holiday gifts every December.