Deck the Halls
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"Deck the Halls" is a traditional Yuletide and New Years' carol. The "fa-la-la" refrains were probably originally played on the harp. In the eighteenth century Mozart used the tune to "Deck the Halls" for a violin and piano duet.
The English words generally sung today are American in origin and date from the 19th century, but the original lyrics are Welsh.
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[edit] Lyrics
Note that the lines of the first two versions were not exclusive of one another and were often interchanged without preference. Various other versions remove or replace certain Fa la la lines with harp melodies. Sometimes the third, "New Year", version is a follow up.
[edit] Popular version "Deck the Halls"
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[edit] Alternate Version "Deck the Hall"
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[edit] English Folk Version or Addition
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[edit] Welsh version "Twas" or "Oer yw'r gŵr"Note that the second verse and the Fa la las were later folk additions to the original.
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[edit] Welsh Translation "New Year's Eve" or "Cold is the Man"
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[edit] History
The tune is that of an old Welsh air, first found in a musical manuscript by Welsh harpist John Parry Ddall (c. 1710–1782), but undoubtedly much older than that. The composition is still popular as a dance tune in Wales, and was published in the 1784 and 1794 editions of the harpist Edward Jones's Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards. Poet, John Ceiriog Hughes wrote the first published lyrics for the piece in Welsh, titling it "Nos Galan" ("New Year's Eve"). A middle verse was later added by folk singers. In the eighteenth century the tune spread widely, with Mozart using it in a piano and violin concerto.
Originally, carols were dances and not songs. The accompanying tune would have been used as a setting for any verses of appropriate metre. Singers would compete with each other, verse for verse — known as canu penillion dull y De ("singing verses in the southern style"). The church actively opposed these folk dances. Consequently, tunes originally used to accompany carols became separated from the original dances, but were still referred to as "carols". The popular English lyrics for this carol are not a translation from the Welsh. The connection with dancing is made explicit in the English lyrics by the phrase "follow me in merry measure" as "measure" is a synonym for dance. A collection of such sixteenth and seventeenth century dances danced at the Inns of Court in London are called the Old Measures. Dancing itself having been previously suppressed by the church was revived during the renaissance beginning in fifteenth century Italy .
During the Victorian re-invention of Christmas it was turned into a traditional English Christmas song. The first English version appeared in The Franklin Square Song Collection, edited by J.P.McCaskey in 1881. See here for a more detailed summary of what various sources say about its history.
[edit] Parodies and Commercial Adaptations
- "The Twelve Days of Christmas" as part of the Disney Sing Along Songs series includes this song, but the last verses are different.
- All our friends are here bestowing,
- Fa la la la la, la la la la.
- Gifts for stockings overflowing.
- Fa la la la la, la la la la.
- Sharing warmth of yuletide embers
- Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
- Joys that everyone remembers.
- Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
- Stockings filled with gifts, surprises,
- Fa la la la la, la la la la.
- Wrapped in many shapes and sizes.
- Fa la la la la, la la la la.
- Around the tree abundant treasures,
- Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
- Celebrate the season's pleasures.
- Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
- The comic strip Pogo often had the characters singing nonsense lyrics to the song, which otherwise "fit" in terms of rhyme and meter:
- Deck us all with Boston Charlie
- Walla Walla, Wash., and Kalamazoo
- The line "Don we now our gay apparel" has led to obvious visual jokes about cross-dressing, the usage of the term "gay" having shifted over the centuries. A famous cartoon in Playboy magazine shows a man singing the line while donning a woman's dress.
- A version sung in Springfield, Pennsylvania in 1970, penned by Clifton Siple contained the lyrics:
- Deck the halls with marijuana, fa la la la la, la la la la
- Tis the time to reach nirvana, fa la la la la, la la la la
- The band Barenaked Ladies recorded a version of the song called "Deck the Stills", with the traditional lyrics replaced with the single repeated line "Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young".
- It was also recorded by the metal band Twisted Sister on their 2006 A Twisted Christmas album.
- In the 2006 TV show Another Specky Christmas, Adam Hills sang a parody called Dick the Horse. Because apparently at a Carols by Candlelight concert, that's how his Nanna heard it because her hearing aid wasn't turned up.
- The animation comedy group JibJab, famous for their shorts "This Land" and "Good to be in DC," created their own "press conference" using President Bush as the singer. All the footage was taken from conferences in Washington DC and set to a very high-paced, not Christmas-like record player music. Bush's talking was timed and cut to become the lyrics.
- Among the lyrics in Mad Magazine's paperback "Sing Along With Mad" (written by Frank Jacobs) is a song that begins thus:
Fill the bars with Christmas drinking/ Fa la la la la, la la la la/ See the people getting stinking/ Fa la la la la, la la la la/
- Australian duo Colin Buchanan and Greg Champion (known as 'Bucko & Champs'), have also recorded the Australian version of Deck the Halls called "Deck The Sheds".
- In the sequence "Kill Gill:Vol 1&2" of The Simpsons, dancers on the ice are singing the song with the following lyrics:
- Laugh along with Christ and Krusty
- Ha ha ha, ha ha ha, ha ha ha
- We have hard butts, we are busty
- Ha ha ha, ha ha ha, ha ha ha
[edit] SHeDAISY version
| “Deck the Halls” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:SHeDAISY Deck the Halls.jpg | ||
| Single by SHeDAISY from the album Brand New Year |
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| Released | November 9, 1999 | |
| Genre | Country | |
| Length | 3:50 | |
| Label | Lyric Street | |
| Producer | Dann Huff | |
An adaptation of "Deck the Halls" was recorded country music group SHeDAISY that was made for there Christmas studio album Brand New Year and was featured in the Disney animated film Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas. The music video features scenes of the movie. The single was released on November 9th, 1999.
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (2005-2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs | 37 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 61 |
