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J. David Moore

J. David Moore is a composer, arranger, conductor, teacher, and Southerner who has lived in the Upper Midwest for most of his life. His music has been called “endlessly inventive,” “glorious…haunting…breathtaking,” and “joyous…wild and elemental.” He publishes through his company Fresh Ayre Music, and is the founder and conductor of The First Readings Project, a...

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Fresh Ayre Music (J. David Moore)

Jingle Bells

Name: Jingle Bells
SKU: FAM-1009-01dg
Availability: InStock

J. David Moore

A King’s Singers-inspired take on a possibly familiar carol.

Choral

mixed choir

a cappella

Difficulty: 4

Duration: less than 3 min.

FAM-1009-01dg

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SATTB a cappella

“Jingle Bells” was first published in 1857 by the son of a Unitarian minister from Medford, Massachussetts. There remains an ongoing feud between the cities of Medford and Savannah, Georgia (where James was living at the time of publication) concerning where he actually wrote the song; Both Chambers of Commerce have put up plaques claiming ownership, and still make much of the validity of their claims for tourists. James Pierpont composed a number of other songs and dance tunes, but nothing he wrote before or after “Jingle Bells” affected his legacy to any extent.

This arrangement was made for the 2003 “Happy Merry Lyric Contest,” hosted by Minnesota Public Radio. Listeners were invited to submit new lyrics to three familiar Christmas carols and the winners, chosen on the basis of cleverness and singability, got to hear their efforts sung by the a cappella group Dare To Breathe on the air. The lyrics presented here are Mr. Pierpont’s originals.

Text

1. Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
O’er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tail ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight!

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

2. 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
He got into a drifted bank
And then we got upsot.

REFRAIN

3. Now the ground is white
Go it while you’re young,
Take the girls tonight
and sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bobtailed bay
Two forty as his speed
Hitch him to an open sleigh
And crack! you’ll take the lead.

REFRAIN

– James Pierpont

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