Plaque provided by the Medford Historical Society. Plaque commemorating the authorship of the song “Jingle Bells” by James Pierpont at the Simpson Tavern (now 19 High Street) in Medford, Massachusetts. Several months after the death of his first wife in 1856, the songwriter married a daughter of Savannah’s mayor and left the two children from his first marriage back in the North with their grandfather. Returning home several years later no wealthier than when he left, Pierpont departed from his family again in 1853 to become the organist at a Unitarian church in Savannah, Georgia, that was pastored by his brother. When the California Gold Rush struck in 1849, Pierpont left his wife and children behind in Massachusetts while he chased riches in the West. At the age of 14, he ran off from boarding school, joined the crew of a whaling ship and spent nearly a decade at sea. From an early age, James Lord Pierpont sought adventures far away from his family in Boston. The “Jingle Bells” composer was the son of a fiercely abolitionist Unitarian minister, Reverend John Pierpont. Just as Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Michael Bublé have all put their own spin on Jingle Bells, many famous singers have done the same for the French version.ĭalida first sang the French version of Jingle bells “Vive le Vent” back in the ’60s.ĭalida is not French, but she was and still is a very iconic singer in France, similar to how Julio Iglesias is popular in the US.The commemorative plaque for James Lord Pierpont and his “Jingle Bells” in Savannah, Georgia, USA. My daughter (pictured below), who has attended French schools her whole life, has sung the French version of Jingle Bells “Vive le vent” at almost all her school holiday Christmas shows.ĭalida singing “Vive le Vent,”: Jingle Bells in French
Maybe not quite as popular as the original version is in the US and Canada, but most French children and adults know this catchy Christmas song tune well enough to hum it. The French version of Jingle bells was originally adapted to French by Francis Blanche in 1948, and it’s a popular Christmas song in France.
I wrote an article about popular French Christmas songs in France here. What you may not realize is sometimes the translated titles and lyrics of those original Christmas songs are changed completely while the tune remains the same. Over the years, Christmas carols and Christmas songs such as Jingle Bells have been borrowed and translated from one language to another. Jingle Bells, America’s favourite sing-along Christmas song, is a worldwide sensation. French version of Jingle Bells: Title and lyrics translated to Englishįrench Jingle Bells lyrics are completely different than the English Version.Lyrics to the French version of Jingle Bells.Dalida singing “Vive le Vent,”: Jingle Bells in French.Borrowing Christmas songs from other languages is nothing new.French Jingle Bells lyrics are completely different than the English Version.