Deck the Halls
| "Deck the Halls" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Red Hot Chili Peppers | |
| from the album Out in L.A. | |
| B-side | "Knock Me Down" |
| Released | 1994 |
| Format | 7 inch single |
| Genre | parody |
| Length | 1:02 |
| Label | EMI |
| "Deck the Halls" | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Single by SHeDAISY | |
| from the album Brand New Year | |
| B-side | "Deck the Halls" (Radio Mix) |
| Released | November 9, 1999 |
| Format | CD single |
| Recorded | 1999 |
| Genre | Country pop |
| Length | 3:50 |
| Label | Lyric Street |
| Producer(s) | Dann Huff |
"Deck the Halls" or "Deck the Hall" (which is the original version of the lyrics) is a traditional Christmas, yuletide, and New Years' carol. The melody is Welsh dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter carol, "Nos Galan", while the English lyrics, written by Thomas Oliphant, date to 1862.
The English-language lyrics were written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant. They first appeared in 1862, in volume 2 of Welsh Melodies, a set of four volumes authored by John Thomas, including Welsh words by John Jones (Talhaiarn) and English words by Oliphant. The repeated "fa la la" goes back to the earlier Welsh and may originate from medieval ballads. The lyrics run as follows:
Deck the hall with boughs of holly,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
'Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Fill the meadcup, drain the barrel,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
the ancient Christmas carol,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
See the flowing bowl before us,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Follow me in merry measure,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
While I sing of beauty's treasure,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Fast away the old year passes,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Laughing, quaffing all together,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
Heedless of the wind and weather,
Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
The phrase "", from the lyrics, has become synonymous with the Christmas and holiday season. being an archaic contraction of "it is". A similar archaic contraction is "'Twas the night before Christmas", from the first line of the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas".
In the original 1862 publication, Oliphant's English lyrics were published alongside Talhaiarn's Welsh lyrics. Although some early sources state that Oliphant's words were a translation of Talhaiarn's Welsh original, this is not the case in any strict or literal sense. The first verse in Welsh, together with a literal English translation taken from Campbell's Treatise on the language, poetry, and music of the Highland Clans (1862), is given for comparison:
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Wikipedia