“Winter Wonderland,” with its vivid cold weather imagery, seems like it was tailor-made to sing around Christmastime. But much like “Jingle Bells,” the song wasn’t actually written for the holiday season. The lyrics were penned in the 1930s by Richard Bernhard Smith, who was suffering from tuberculosis at the time and holed up indoors.
Smith stared out his window observing kids playing innocently in the snow and wrote a poem evoking feelings of the carefree days he once knew. Smith’s friend and musician Felix Bernard took the lyrics and composed a melody to go with them. Even though the song never specifically mentions Christmas, it quickly became a holiday standard.
“Winter Wonderland” Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening,
A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
Gone away is the bluebird,
Here to stay is a new bird,
He sings a love song,
as we go along,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
(Chorus) In the meadow we can build a snowman,
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown, He’ll say: Are you married? We’ll say: No man,
But you can do the job while you’re in town.
Later on, we’ll conspire,
As we dream by the fire,
To face unafraid,
the plans that we’ve made,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
(Chorus) When it snows, ain’t it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling.
We’ll frolic and play, the Eskimo way,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
Walking in a winter wonderland,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
Lyrics by Richard Bernhard Smith; melody by Felix Bernard Lyrics courtesy of Christmassongs.net
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