![]() It was a fever dream of a hot day in July 1946 when he started, and then he finished in February two years later. “Sleigh Ride” was conceived by Leroy Anderson just after he left the army. It feels like a sleigh ride, with the flourishes of strings standing in for flourishes of snow. It’s decidedly not a pop song it’s a light classical song with movements like episodes, and by the time those rising horns are introduced in the latter act, it’s like a marching band striding merrily straight into your heart, filling it with holiday cheer. Leroy Anderson’s version of his own song is, fittingly, the best version of it. The New Christy Minstrels, Merry Christmas! (1966) Adam Counts of Trap City sets Ella’s vocals to a stutter beat before stretching the limits of how much you want to hear her repeat “giddy-up!” Truly something for everyone.īut in case you don’t want to induce yourself into Christmas madness and instead just want to hear the best of the best, here are the top ten versions of “Sleigh Ride” that best encapsulate the spirit and feel of this perfect, surprisingly pliable holiday music masterpiece.ġ0. Barenaked Ladies make fun of the whole song and still come off charming. TLC start singing it and then more or less forget it in favor of some Christmas rapping. There will be stellar highs - like Glenn Miller Orchestra’s triumphant version, and disappointing lows - like She & Him’s, which sounds so sleepy you’ll wonder if Zooey had an Ambien just before having their horse set off. I also feel comfortable recommending just listening to the entire playlist - nearing 100 versions - and letting it wash over you. The sleigh riders eat pumpkin pie, then sing one more time about how great the sleigh ride was, remembering their awesome day.Īfter listening to 4.5 hours of my self-made “Sleigh Ride” Abyss, I feel comfortable choosing the ten best versions. But it’s a shame, because there are fun moments like chestnuts “pop-pop-pop”-ing that just beg for another bit of artistic license. ![]() A lot of versions stop there, preferring to edit out the further birthday party (and further variation on the orchestral theme) at Farmer Gray’s house. They ride and enjoy the snow, get cold and snuggle together, singing songs. And the lyrics are a short story, admittedly one low on conflict - friends arrive, call “yoo-hoo,” and everyone gets in the sleigh. “Sleigh Ride” is particularly full of hooks for artists to interpret as they please. Lots of Christmas music is like this - any standard is only as good as the person singing it, the liberties they took with your familiarity. SLEIGH RIDE FOREVER” has 94 versions of the song, and they are sonically diverse enough that you might put it on and forget it’s the same song over and over. I love it so deeply that at the time of writing, my Spotify playlist titled “JUST SLEIGH RIDE. Whenever it came on and filled the vaulted ceilings of the shoe store with horns, it put a sprightly spring in my step. I started setting it apart from other holiday classics when I worked in a shoe store in college. With three main versions - instrumental, full lyrics, partial lyrics - there are endless permutations, little moments throughout just asking for whoever’s taking on the reins to make their own. It also doesn’t reference the consumerism of the season in the least, instead taking a winter experience and encapsulating it perfectly in song. It’s a song that celebrates the moment, telling you to be present and enjoy what’s around you. “Sleigh Ride,” originally conceived by Leroy Anderson, doesn’t want to make you miss someone who isn’t there, or remind you of Christmases past. No, this is a song about a sleigh ride: of eating pumpkin pie with pals, of feeling warm despite the cold. And it’s not even a Christmas song - it’s a holiday song, a celebration of the winter season despite folks like the Carpenters and Sesame Street trying to change a lyric from “birthday” to “Christmas” and claim it for the all-consuming tinsel avalanche of Christmas ubiquity. “Sleigh Ride” is unequivocally the best Christmas song of all time.
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