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"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" Lyrics

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Rocking around the Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop
Mistletoe hung where you can see
Every couple tries to stop
Rocking around the Christmas tree
Let the Christmas spirit ring
And later we'll have some pumpkin pie
And we'll do some caroling

You will get a sentimental feeling
When you hear voices singing, 'let's be jolly
Deck the halls with boughs of holly'

Rocking around the Christmas tree
Have a happy holiday
Everyone dancing merrily
In the new old-fashioned way
Come on, Barry, take it home now, yeah!

You will get a sentimental feeling
When you hear voices singing, 'let's be jolly
Deck the halls with boughs of holly'

Rocking around the Christmas tree
Have a happy holiday
Everyone dancing merrily
In the new old-fashioned way
song info:
Verified yes
LanguageEnglish
Genre
Rank
Duration00:02:31
Charts
Copyright ©St. Nicholas Music
WriterJohnny Marks
Lyrics licensed byLyricFind
AddedSeptember 29th, 2011
Last updatedMarch 6th, 2022
About"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958. By the song's 50th anniversary in 2008, Lee's original version had sold over 25 million copies with the 4th most digital downloads sold of any Christmas single, and has since been recorded by numerous other music artists.

Despite her mature-sounding voice, Lee recorded this song when she was only thirteen years old. The song's declaration of a rock and roll sound notwithstanding, its instrumentation also fits the country music genre, which Lee more fully embraced as her career evolved. The recording features Grady Martin on guitar, Boots Randolph on sax, and veteran session player Buddy Harman on drums. The song is written in the key of A-flat major.

An instrumental version of the song appears as background music in the 1964 television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which exclusively featured music written by Marks. It can be heard in the scene where Rudolph first arrives at the Reindeer Games and meets another reindeer named Fireball. A fully sung version of the song would later appear in Rankin/Bass's 1979 sequel Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. The song was also used in the 1990 film Home Alone during a scene when Kevin McCallister pretends that there is a holiday party taking place in his house, and discourages the burglars from robbing it.

Although Decca released the single in both 1958 and again in 1959, it did not sell well until Lee became a popular star in 1960. That Christmas holiday season, Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. It continued to sell well during subsequent holiday seasons, peaking as high as No. 3 on Billboard's Christmas Singles chart in December 1965.

It peaked at No. 6 in the UK Charts, when it was released there in 1963, in 2013 due to downloads it became one of a number of songs to re-enter the UK Singles Chart near Christmas time along with Slade and The Pogues "Fairytale of New York", "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", it peaked at No. 63 on Sunday 15 December 2013.

For decades, Lee's recording was the only notable version of the song. Radio stations ranging from Top 40 to Adult Contemporary to Country Music to Oldies to even Adult Standards played this version. Lee's recording still receives a great deal of airplay, and has since turned into a perennial holiday favorite.

The single returned to the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week ending December 26, 2015, eventually reaching the No. 30 position two weeks later (i.e. the week ending January 9, 2016). It entered the Hot 100 chart again on the week ending December 24, 2016,[3] eventually peaking at No. 27 two weeks later.

As of November 25, 2016, Nielsen SoundScan estimated total sales of the digital track at 1,000,000 downloads, placing it fifth on the list of all-time best-selling Christmas/holiday digital singles in SoundScan history.

The following artists have each recorded a cover version of the song:

1968 • Bill Haley & His Comets, for the U.S. label United Artists Records (not released commercially at the time)

1970 • Lynn Anderson, for her album The Christmas Album

1971 • The Partridge Family, for their album A Partridge Family Christmas Card

1983 • Lou Ann Barton, for the compilation album An Austin Rhythm and Blues Christmas

1986 • Mickey Gilley, for the compilation album The Nashville Christmas Album

1992 • Amy Grant, for her album Home for Christmas
• Ronnie Spector and Darlene Love, for the charity compilation album A Very Special Christmas 2

1993 • Dion DiMucci, for his album Rock n' Roll Christmas

1994 • Alvin and the Chipmunks and Patty Loveless, for the album A Very Merry Chipmunk

1995 • Gary Hoey, for his album Ho! Ho! Hoey II

1997 • Hanson, for their album Snowed In

1998 • Cyndi Lauper, for her album Merry Christmas... Have a Nice Life
• Dion, from the various artists Christmas compilation album Cruising Christmas

1999 • Alabama, for their album Christmas Vol. II (this cover version peaked at No. 64 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart)
• Element, for the compilation album Happy Christmas Vol. 2

2000 • Green Day, posted for their fans on their website greenday.com
• Jessica Simpson with Rosie O'Donnell, for O'Donnell's album Another Rosie Christmas
• Mek Pek, for his rockabilly-project Mek and the X-Mas Peks

2004 • LeAnn Rimes, for her album What a Wonderful World (this cover version peaked at No. 3 on Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, No. 48 on Billboard Country Singles chart, and No. 30 on Billboard's Holiday Songs chart)

2006 • Rhonda Vincent, for her album Beautiful Star: A Christmas Collection

2007 • Hannah Montana for the Disney Channel Holiday soundtrack
• Toby Keith, for his album A Classic Christmas
• 1910 Fruitgum Company, for their album Bubblegum Christmas
• Helena Vondráčková on her album Vanoce S Helenou - To Nej as "Vanoce Jak Hrom" Czech

2008 • Davie Allan & the Arrows, for their album Fuzz for the Holidays
• Joe Lynn Turner and others, for the album We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year

2009 • Lotta Engberg (titled "Julen Är Här"), for the album Jul hos mig

2011 • Chicago, for their album Chicago XXXIII: O Christmas Three
• She & Him, for their album A Very She & Him Christmas
• 3 Voices & Beatur, for their album It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2012 • Victoria Justice, for the compilation album Merry Nickmas
• Bella Thorne, for the compilation album Disney Channel Holiday Playlist
• Mike Cannistraro, for the compilation album Boston's Best Holiday Hits
• JOE-BOY, for debut download single release

2013 • The fictional New Directions glee club, for the Glee episode "Previously Unaired Christmas" and album Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 4
• Il Volo for their album Buon Natale: The Christmas Album

2015 • Jann Arden on her album A Jann Arden Christmas
• Kaitlyn Baker, for single release.
• Chasing Deer, as a B-Side to their "Together at Christmas" single.

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