THE LAST TURKEY

The Carol of Bells is my 16th favourite Christmas song. Not the best video, but this is the best version...

"Carol of the Bells" (also known as the "Ukrainian Bell Carol") is a choral miniature work originally composed by the Ukrainian composer and Ukrainian autocephalic orthodox priest Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych. Throughout the piece, a 4 note motif is used as an ostinato and was taken from an ancient pagan Ukrainian New Year's chant known in Ukrainian as "Shchedryk". The original work was intended to be sung a cappella.

The composition was premiered in December 1916 by students at Kiev University and was introduced to Western audiences by the Ukrainian National Chorus during its concert tour of Europe and the Americas. It premiered in the United States on October 5, 1921, at Carnegie Hall and was later adapted into English language version by Peter Wilhousky in the 1930s. An alternate version ("Ring, Christmas Bells") with words written by Minna Louise Hohman in 1947 is also widely performed.

The original Ukrainian text tells the tale of a swallow flying into a household to proclaim the plentiful and bountiful year that the family will have." The title is derived from the Ukrainian word for "bountiful."

In Ukraine, the carol is currently sung on the eve of the Julian New Year (January 13).

The first of the English language lyrics below were written in 1936 by Peter Wilhousky of NBC Radio. The song reminded Wilhousky of beautiful ringing bells and he captured that imagery in his lyrics.

The song is the basis of an infamous internet meme popularly known as "Ding Fries are Done," in which a Burger King employee uses the tune to sing a song about how he works at Burger King, makes French fries and wears paper hats. This parody itself was parodied in the Family Guy episode "Deep Throats" during a cutaway scene in which Peter Griffin sings the song himself, apparently as a Burger King employee.

This is a good effort by the Ishmel sisters! The small girl on the right sums up how I feel when I listen to this song (especially at 44 seconds)