Guest post by Nathan Arizona
You don’t find many Christmas songs with St. Nicholas in them. Santa Claus took over in the 19th century with a big boost from Clement Moore’s poem “The Night Before Christmas” and the illustrations of Thomas Nast.
Their Santas were kind of elfin, not exactly like ours. The poem described his reindeer as “tiny” and Santa himself as small enough to crawl down the chimney. His image developed over time, although he still manages to squeeze himself down the chimney. The main source of how we see him now is advertising for Coca-Cola in the 1930s.
So not much caroling about the 4th-century gift-giving Greek bishop St. Nicholas or the later Dutch version of him, Sinterklaas. Yes, “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” (1874) has become a classic. So has “Up on the House Top,” which refers to both Santa and “St. Nick.” The only other one I could think of offhand was the Beach Boys’ “Little Saint Nick.”
Usually the Christmas songs with hazy origins are very old. “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” is only kind of old, but the credits for it are a little muddled. Prolific American composer James R. Murray probably wrote the music, but it’s not clear who first put lyrics to it.
The most likely is Benjamin Handy, who wrote the similar “Up on the House Top.” But there is support for the composer of “Jingle Bells,” James Lord Pierpont, and song publisher John Piersol McCaskey.
We do know the lyrics handed down to us are almost exactly the same as the words of a poem called “Lilly’s Secret” by Emily Huntington Miller, written nine years before the song was published.
“Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” has been recorded by everybody from Andy Williams, Doris Day and Carole King to Alvin and the Chipmunks and Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers.
Ray Conniff’s 1962 version made it one of the most popular Christmas songs of the early post-war era. Conniff was very successful in the 1950s and ’60s with his blend of easygoing orchestral music and a small vocal chorus.
The rock band Chicago had a good time with it surrounded by a festive crowd at the Rockefeller Square Christmas Tree Lighting in 2003. The group had a personalized gift list. “Jason wants a Fender bass/Walt a saxophone/Lee, he needs a flugelhorn/Jimmy a trombone.”
