It’s that time of year…time to sing about Olive, the other reindeer laughing at poor Rudolph, and Round John Virgin with his margarine child.

The words to Christmas songs and carols have been misheard throughout the years, and there are some pretty funny interpretations.  Olive, the other reindeer and Round John Virgin are probably the most common, or at least the most well-known of the Christmas mondegreens.

In the song Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the line “all of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names” has been heard as “Olive, the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names”, while in the carol Silent Night, “Round John Virgin, margarine child” is often substituted for the line “Round yon virgin, Mother and child”.

Some people must think that a 50s Rock ‘n Roll singer helped decorate at Christmas, based on the words “Deck the halls with Buddy Holly” instead of “Deck the halls with boughs of holly”. Then there’s the hobo’s Christmas song, “Chipmunks roasting on an open fire” rather than “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”.

When I was a child, I sang Jingle Bells like this:

Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh;
O'er the fields we go,
Laughing all the way.

Bells on Bob's tail ring,
Making spirits bright;
What fun it is to write and sing
A slaving song tonight.

I have a brother named Bob, but I had no idea what a bobtail was, so “bells on Bob’s tail” made much more sense to me than “bells on Bobtail”. And, I heard “slaving song tonight” rather than “sleighing song”, not that slaving song made any sense.

Other Christmas misheard lyrics:

Get dressed ye married gentlemen

Let nothing through this May

 instead of

God Rest ye merry, gentlemen

let nothing you dismay

Or

Hark, the harried angels sing

Glory to the New York king

rather than

Hark, the herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn king

Then there’s my personal favorite:

We three kings from Oregon are

Bearing gifts, we’ve traveled so far

Instead of

We three kings of Orient are

Bearing gifts, we traverse afar.

Do you know of other Christmas mondegreens? Send me a comment.