FtV - The Jingle Bells Scandal
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And welcome to the vaults.

Welcome to the Holiday Vault. Very festive in here. This is one of my favorites, and this is from the very early years. We pick apart the song Jingle Bells. First aired December 21st, 2017. Enjoy.

So, Jeff, what are we looking for? Ray, we're in Medford, Massachusetts, on High Street, looking for an historic marker. What legend was born here on High Street? A musical one. Oh, look, here it is. Check this out. Right here, the song Jingle Bells was allegedly written. Well, that's one of my favorite Christmas carols. Well, here's the thing. This song isn't a Christmas carol at all. In fact, it's a song about a booty call.

I'm Jeff Belanger. And I'm Ray Ogier, and welcome to the 2017 New England Legends Podcast Holiday Musical Spectacular. Okay, okay, wait a minute. Jingle Bells is not a Christmas carol? Nope. Read the lyrics. Go ahead. Christmas isn't mentioned once. All right. All right.

I guess you're right. No mention of Christmas. But booty call? All right, I'll get back to that in a minute. But first, I have a musical question for you. All right, Jeff, shoot. What's your favorite all-time meatloaf song? All right, well, it's going to be cliche, but I'm going with Paradise by the Dashboard Light. I mean, what red-blooded American kid doesn't remember dating in high school and parking with a girl for the first time? That song is a classic. Truly a song for its time. And an interesting side note on that is...

You know in the middle of the tune when the voice of New York Yankees Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto comes in to call the play-by-play? Of course. That's one of the best parts of the songs. When I was in college, we had a baseball conference where Phil Rizzuto was being honored for joining the Baseball Hall of Fame. I got my grandfather press credentials because he was a professional umpire way back in the day, and he had a photo of himself with Phil Rizzuto and Connie

Oh, Connie Mack. He's from my hometown of East Brookfield, Mass. And my grandfather was from nearby Southbridge, Mass. So at this event in college, we got the chance to talk to Phil for a couple of minutes. You met the scooter? We did. And one question we asked him was about the meatloaf song, Paradise by the Dashboard Light.

He said some people approached him about doing this baseball announcing for a song they had. And he said, sure. He starts to read the script and he said he thought it was strange how someone would barely get to second base. And then he goes to steal third base. And then he's going to press his luck and try to steal home. I mean, what player does that? And then he says, holy cow, I figured out what they were talking about. Well, music is the ultimate metaphor for sex, isn't it? It's so true.

And it was also true more than a century and a half ago when it comes to the song Jingle Bells. I think it's fair to say that Jingle Bells might be in the top three most famous melodies in America. I'm talking all time. Maybe only Happy Birthday or Mary Had a Little Lamb could be known better.

Okay, let's set the stage. I think a good place to start is this plaque on High Street in Medford. It's a plaque you could walk right by if you don't look down at your ankles underneath an optician's office plate glass window. Go ahead and give it a read. All right, it says, Jingle Bells composed here. On this site stood the Simpson Tavern, where in 1850, James Pierpont wrote the song Jingle Bells in the presence of Mrs. Otis Waterman, who later verified that the song was written here.

Pierpont had the song copyrighted in 1857 while living in Georgia. Jingle Bells tells of a sleigh ride held on Salem Street in the early 1800s. Okay, the funny thing about this song is there's some controversy with it. Though Pierpont was born and raised in the Boston area, he later moved to Savannah, Georgia, where he was the music director of a Unitarian church.

In the South, he wrote other songs as well, but they were mostly fight songs supporting the Confederate cause. Songs like Strike for the South and We Conquer or Die. And those ain't Christmas songs. No, they're not. So what happened in this tavern? Here's where the controversy comes in. Savannah, Georgia also claims Pierpont wrote the song there. Right, because when I think of sleigh rides in the snow, I think of Savannah, Georgia, of course. Yeah, I get it. And I don't think anyone who's arguing that sleigh rides in Medford and Boston inspired the song.

but trying to pin down where it was written became a project for Kyna Hamill from the CFA School of Theatre at Boston University. Hamill also volunteers at the Medford Historical Society, and she spent several years trying to track down what's true and not true about the information on this plaque. It's difficult to argue with words printed in bronze and attached to stone on a busy city street. That's very true, but Hamill got to work and published her findings this past September in a piece called The Story I Must Tell.

I emailed with her earlier this week, and she sent me the paper she wrote. Her findings indicate that in 1850, Pierpont was in San Francisco and Northern California, so it's unlikely he wrote the song at a tavern in Medford.

Ray, you're a musician. You've written songs. I'm sure sometimes you sit down in one place and knock out an entire tune. Yeah, but realistically, a song is written in many different places. You get an idea while jamming, a line comes to you in the shower, you figure a melody out while driving your car one day, you write and rewrite in some studio, and it's pretty rare that you write the whole thing in one sitting.

And that's what Kina Hamill figures as well. Her best guess is that the song was written in Boston. Okay, still New England. Yes, indeed. And what she's determined is that the first public performance of the song was Boston's Ordway Hall on September 15, 1857 by minstrel singer Johnny Pell. New England again. Take that, Savannah. While all of this is interesting backstory, it clouds the legend that James Pierpont wandered into Simpsons Tavern on High Street to work out Jingle Bells.

I'm more interested in what the actual song is about. I'm here to tell you that this may be the original Paradise by the Dashboard Light. To do this right, we're going to need some help, though. All right, I'm calling my friend Kelly. She's a musician. I've worked with her before. Hey, Kel. Yeah, it's Ray. Can Jeff and I come over and record Jingle Bells with you? Awesome. Thank you. Ah!

Hi, Kel. Hey, guys. What's going on? Well, I was wondering if you'd help us break down this non-Christmas booty call song. Any idea that this was a scandalous song? I had no idea, but I'm anxious to hear about it. All right. Kel, could you please get us started?

These are the original lyrics to the song One Horse Open Sleigh, published in 1857 by James Pierpont. The first verse is pretty straightforward. Go ahead, Ray. Dashing through the snow in a one horse open sleigh. Okay, well this tells us it's a sleigh without a cover being dragged by a single horse through the snow. All right. O'er the hills we go, laughing all the way. Okay.

I'm sorry, couldn't resist. Bells on bobtail ring, making spirits bright. Okay, this is important. The horse's tail has a bob cut so it's not in the faces of the passengers, and bells are placed on the tail so it jingles. And this is an alert, so people walking by and nearby hear that a horse is coming, because this is dangerous stuff. These guys travel fast and silently.

Now, as for spirits being bright, spirits, of course, is another word for alcohol, and it's cold outside. And some alcohol would warm you up, wouldn't it? Well, that it would. But this song, really, is something that I think we hear over and over again, and it's important that we understand it. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.

Okay. All right. The first verse and chorus seem innocent enough. It is. Mostly innocent, except for a few nips of booze, but it's the second verse where the story turns naughty. All right, here we go.

Now there's a girl. Damn right she is, and I can't believe she got into a sleigh with a guy like James Pierpont. This is the first naughty part of the song, because in 1850, this was not a time for single men and women to be together without some kind of chaperone.

Yet here these two are riding alone out into the woods away from watchful eyes, no doubt imbibing in alcohol to keep warm as well. But the next part of the verse is where we really have to watch out. Go ahead, Ray. All right. The horse was lean and lank. Misfortune seemed his lot. He got into a drifted bank and we, we got upset. Okay, this is where the song turns downright scandalous.

How is that scandalous? This part of the verse describes how the horse maybe dragged them into a snowbank. Alright, I get that. And this is where we need to pick apart the meaning of the word "upsot." It's an old English word that we really don't use anymore. First, the literal meaning is like turning something over, capsize.

but it's also an old-fashioned slang word for being intoxicated. Like how today we would say wasted or drunk. Exactly. It's believed Pierpont wrote this as a bit of a double entendre.

That is scandalous. I guess Meatloaf wrote it a different way in 1976.

Really, the only place to go after this, I think, is the chorus. All right. Here we go. You ready? Ready. Let's do it. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. Okay. The third verse is often left out of the modern versions of the songs.

A day or two ago, the story I must tell. If we look at the second verse, we're still talking about the same time frame, an event with Miss Fanny Bright. I went out on the snow and on my back I fell. At this point, our boy is drunk. Drunk on love or spirits, Jeff? I'm guessing both. A gent was riding by in a one-horse open sleigh.

He laughed as there I sprawled lie, but quickly drove away. So our boy and Fanny Bright are busted in the act. As our storyteller falls to the snow, the gent passing by gives a laugh, probably remembering his own youth, and moves along. Like the cop who rolls up on you while you're parking with a girl, but decides to leave you be. Just like that. All right, ready to do it? Ready. Let's do it. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.

Okay, this last verse sums it all up. We have advice to offer other dudes who also want to find paradise by the dashboard light. Or in this case, paradise by the horse's butt. It doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? No, it doesn't. All right, now the ground is white.

This doesn't need much explanation. Pierpont is saying, follow my lead, boys. This has worked before. A bay?

A bay is a horse with reddish-brown color and a black mane and tail. 240 as his speed means 1 mile in 2 minutes and 40 seconds, which is 22.5 miles per hour as a trot. Hitch him to an open sleigh, and boom! You and your lady friend are off to the elusive land of privacy. And who would suspect you'd be up to do that on a cold winter's day when most people are adding clothes, not taking them off? Well, when you're young and in love... Or lust...

You've had a few drinks. I guess you'll do anything. I think you would do anything. Let's do it. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh, what joy it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

Well, Jeff, I don't think I'll ever hear that song the same way again. And to be clear, we're not implying in any way, shape, or form that the rock singer Meatloaf ripped off James Pierpont and Jingle Bells, just that the idea of driving off alone with a girl has been thought of before. Ray, why don't you take the last word on this one? All right, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Could it be that James Pierpont from Medford, Massachusetts, invented parking? ♪

Well, thank you to our friend Kelly on Keys and our good friend Jim who produced the segment today. Now, listen, if you want to check out some of the many other New England legends that we cover each week, subscribe to us on iTunes or visit our website at OurNewEnglandLegends.com.

There you can also check out New England Legends television series, which is available on PBS and Amazon Prime. And help us out by posting a review on iTunes. We appreciate all the feedback, emails, and story ideas so far. Until next time, remember, the bizarre is closer than you think. We'll break it down right after a word from our sponsor. This is it.

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Who knew? Who knew? Who knew? Well, we knew and we now our listeners know. This is a story that I have told in front of many live audiences where I break the song down verse by verse, just like we did. And it is so much fun to watch audiences go, oh my, I had no idea it was a song about a booty call. Yeah. And I love that description. It's a booty call, which exactly that's what it is. It's a booty call. Yeah.

It's not a Christmas song. And I love that we compared it to Meat Loaf's song. Yeah, right. Paradise by the Dashboard Light. You put those up against each other. Same song, basically. It's the same song. They're just... These guys are... They're just a century and a half apart. But no, James Pierpont was actually quite a controversial figure. We didn't go into it too much with this, but...

after leaving Massachusetts writing, you know, jingle bells, he moved to the South where he became a Confederate sympathizer. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Started writing like pro Confederacy songs. So should that song be canceled? What do you think? Well, there was some debate about that. Right. So, um, and, and this is a much bigger debate, right? If someone does a bad thing, but they made something that brought you joy, like a song or whatever, um,

There's a song. I listened to it the other day without apology. Remember, it's Rock and Roll Part 2 by Gary Glitter. Yeah, who did some bad things. Hey! It was a stadium staple. What sporting event were you ever at that it was not played? Right. Yeah.

You weren't even at a sporting event. Like tennis? Fine. That's not... Okay. There it is, right? I think it was the first song on Jock Jams. Remember when that came out? It was such a staple that that was the lead off to that album. Football, baseball, basketball, hockey. Not squash. Not squash. But like any stadium. All the big ones. And everyone...

Hey, but I'll yell it. Right. Uh, then Gary glitter did some bad things and everyone stopped playing that song. Thanks Gary. And, but the thing is I was listening to it the other day and I was reminded of pretty much every sporting event I ever went to when I was young. I was like suddenly back there and I was like, Oh,

Damn it. Are we not allowed to like the song because the guy did something bad? Well, it's funny because I just removed two Mariah Carey songs from my playlist on radio because Jay-Z is on one and P. Diddy's on the other. Oh. So it is a thing. Right. You know, I think the last thing people want to hear is somebody controversial. Right. In that sense.

While they're trying to enjoy music on the radio. P. Diddy's not getting a lot of play right now. Yeah, and I guess Jay-Z's been thrown under the bus too as well. And he's the next guy that's being questioned about certain things. You know, this is why I'm grateful we've always turned down those invitations to the Diddy parties. Like, Jeff Ray. I was watching something last night. It was a comedy from like five years ago. Oh, it was The Good Place. Yeah. And a character was talking about how...

they swear that they were invited to a white party once and they were on Diddy's radar. And I'm like, Oh my God, that doesn't hold up today. Five years later. Maybe they knew something back then when they wrote it, you know? But there were so many celebs, not to get off topic, so many celebrities, like I'm sure Tom Hanks maybe at one point went to a party there, but he's not the guy that would stick around for the after party, the party party. You'd like to think a guy like that would see stuff start and go, you know what? I'm out now. I'm leaving right now. You guys do whatever you're going to do, but I'm,

I'm leaving. And, um, yeah, but yeah, but you're right. Like some people, you can't just be guilty cause you were at one. Right. Right. Cause if you're like invited, you're like, wow, that sounds fun. Let's go. And they were very public. I mean, we knew he had the white parties. Yeah. Um, we didn't know about the baby lotion thing.

No. Or the baby oil parties. So much we didn't know. And somehow we're talking about this during the holidays of a Jingle Bells episode. Well, see what Jingle Bells are doing? Ruined everything for us. Strangely relevant. But yes, that was a fun, fun, fun episode to do. And of course, our friend Kelly played piano for us. Yeah, she's fantastic. Which was great. And she basically just played Jingle Bells for like...

straight minutes. I think when we call and say, can you play something for us on the show? And she's probably thinking this, like, I got to practice. It's like just jingle bells over and over and over again. That's all. I don't even have to practice that. I haven't heard her play in a long time and listening back to that episode. I'm like, Oh, she is so good. Yeah. Yeah. And it's also too, like, like think about that, that melody is we, we've talked about it, but like, it was, it's,

It's got to be one of the top two, three most recognized melodies in our country anyway. Well, you can play it on the phone. Yeah. And for that reason alone, it's probably one of the most recognizable songs. Yeah, absolutely. So next time you play it on your phone, I hope you're making a booty call. That was a good ending. It was good. Yeah. You proud of yourself? A little bit. Good.