Twelve Days of Christmas (song)

The Twelve Days of Christmas" is an English Christmas carol that enumerates a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas. Textual evidence suggests the song, first published in England in 1780, may be French in origin.


History....

The twelve days in the song are the twelve days starting Christmas Day, or in some traditions, the day after Christmas, to the day before Epiphany (January 6). The eve of the Epiphany is formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities.

    On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
    12 Drummers Drumming
    11 Pipers Piping
    10 Lords-a-Leaping
    9 Ladies Dancing
    8 Maids-a-Milking
    7 Swans-a-Swimming
    6 Geese-a-Laying
    5 Gold Rings
    4 Colly Birds
    3 French Hens
    2 Turtle Doves
    And a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

Variations....

There are many variations of this song. A version considered by many to be the authoritative, traditional version of the chant in England appears in The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes. There are some regional variants of the verb. In the US the true love sometimes "gave" the gifts to the singer. In the British version, the true love "sent" the gifts to the singer, but "said" is also found. Some misinterpretations have crept into the English-language version over the years. The fourth day's gift is often stated as four "calling" birds but originally was four "colly" birds. The fifth day's gift of gold rings refers not to jewelry but to ring-necked birds such as the ring-necked pheasant. A minor variant includes the singing of "golden" rather than "gold" rings, to avoid having to stretch "gold" into two syllables.

Meaning....

The lyrics of The Twelve Days of Christmas may have no meaning at all. Its meaning, if it has any, has yet to be satisfactorily explained. Regardless of the origin of this idea, a number of Christians give the following meanings to the gifts:

A partridge in a pear tree - Jesus
Two turtle doves - The Old and New Testaments
Three French hens - The three kings bearing gifts
Four calling birds - The four Gospels
Five gold rings - The Torah or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament
Six geese a-laying - The six days of Creation
Seven swans a-swimming - Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
Eight maids a-milking - The eight Beatitudes
Nine ladies dancing - Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
Ten lords a-leaping - The Ten Commandments
Eleven pipers piping - The eleven faithful Apostles
Twelve drummers drumming - The twelve points of the Apostles' Creed

Some noted accounts of the song....

In 1951, Burl Ives recorded a traditional version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

In 1963, Allan Sherman released—two different versions of "The Twelve Gifts of Christmas," in which the gifts are tacky early 1960s items, such as a cheaply-made Japanese transistor radio. Also that year, Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their album Christmas with The Chipmunks, Vol. 2, in which they grow tired in the middle and accidentally flub on the eleventh day.

In 1968, Frank Sinatra and his children, included their own version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" on their album, The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas. This version features items that Frank himself would like, such as "Five ivory combs, Four mission lights, Three golf clubs, Two silken scarfs, and a most lovely lavender tie.

In 1979, The Muppets and singer-songwriter John Denver performed "The Twelve Days of Christmas" together on the 1979 television special John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together.

In 1982 On the late-night sketch-comedy program Second City TV in 1982, released a version on the SCTV spin-off album Great White North, in which the gifts included eight comic books, seven packs of smokes (cigarettes), six packs of two-four ("two-four" is Canadian slang for a case of 24 bottles of beer), five golden toques, four pounds of back bacon, three (pieces of) French toast, two turtlenecks, and a beer in a tree (identified early on in the song merely as "a beer"). They did not get past the eighth day; Bob wanted to include a dozen (12) doughnuts on the twelfth day.

In 1996, Jeff Foxworthy released the parody, "Redneck 12 Days of Christmas," on his album, Crank It Up: The Music Album.

In 2006, Twisted Sister made a parody named "Heavy Metal Christmas" in their album A Twisted Christmas.

Via Wikipedia

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