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Christmas Carols are quite a 'study'. Song Structures are easily discerned. They're short and sweet, so to speak. Verse, Verse, Chorus. Or Chorus, Verse, Chorus. Other. The Melodies are fascinating uses of Scales, fun to pick out as individual Notes. Spend some time with your Carols to learn a lot about Song-Writing.
This one's a little tougher to transcribe, enabling analysis. Here's the 'Lyric' and 'Structure' as I understand it. Ten second Introductory Movement. An 'Intro' need only be long 'Enough' to serve that function. That 'Enough' concept is true of other 'Movements too. Your 'Verse' need only be long 'Enough' to do the 'Exposition' to 'Expose' the 'Storyline' and get to 'The Hook', the title 'Line' that sums up what the Story is about.
This one employs a 'Refrain-Type Chorus', the last 'Line' in Verse I. "It's A Not So Merry Christmas (Here In The Trailer Park)". Getting there within the first minute or less is strong Structural form. The 'rule' is, "Don't bore us! Get to the Chorus!" It has to do with the Human attention span. In this one you have the listener at the Refrain-Type Chorus in under 40 seconds.)
"Not So Merry Christmas (Here In The Trailer Park)" copyright by Marc Barnette
Verse I There's a dog, goin' to barf, in my yard! He's got my wreath, in his teeth, along with my Hallmark card. My neighbor's got his chain saw, goin' for my car! It's a Not So Merry Christmas, Here In The Trailer Park! (0:41)
Verse II Ho! Ho! Ho's are walkin' up and down my street! Low, Low, Low Riders are chasing me! Seven Latin lords a'leaping ????
It's A Not So Merry Christmas, Here In The Trailer Park! (1:10) (Second 'hit' on THE Hook, just over 60 seconds. Strong on memorability, driving home that 'Line' as the main idea of the Song.)
Lyrical Bridge (A Bridge need only be a brief Movement, ideally with pivotal Lyrical information, and with its own 'Melody' in the 'Arrangement', a variation from the Melody of Verse and Chorus, to renew listener interest, breaking the 'Repetition' of Verse Structures with 'Change'. I miss some words, if I'm getting some right, so the Lyric as 'sent' isn't 'received' so the joke doesn't 'land'. Enunciation is of strategic importance.)
Well my best guess is Santa got involved in someone new. I hope a number twelve and they Christmas too (I can't quite 'receive' the words as sung. Sometimes you can get words in context but in a farcical Lyric it could be anything.
Verse III I want someone to see my Christmas Spirit now! I'll hang my mistletoe, right where I sit down! If my single wide burns down this year, that's a real good start! It's A Not So Merry Christmas, Here In The Trailer Park!
(Instrumental Bridge)(The function of a Bridge, breaking the Repetition with Change, can be served Lyrically or Instrumentally.) Everybody (sing?) Woo Hoo!
(Repeat Lyrical Bridge) Well my best guess is Santa got involved with someone new. I hope a number twelve and they Christmas too!
Jon Ander's Son (Repeat VIII) (While fun to play live, deleting this Repeat could shorten the track by about 40 seconds, making it more 'Radio Friendly', more likely to get played. What you do live can go on longer and a live audience enjoys it. For radio, they prefer short Songs that leave more time for commercial advertising that plays the bill. If you can get a Song into the perennial playlist for Christmas, getting played over and over across the nation, it can be a Royalty earner. "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" is probably making money this December of 2022.)
I want someone to see my Christmas Spirit now! So I'll hang my mistletoe, right where I sit down! If my single wide burns down this year, that's a real good start! It's A Not So Merry Christmas, Here In The Trailer Park! (Coda) (A Coda is the final Musical Movement, often referred to as an 'Outro', abbreviating the non-word 'Outroduction', a logical linguistic innovation.) It's A Not So Merry Christmas, Here In The Trailer Park! (Four 'hits' on THE Hook to drive that home as THE Hook, the memorable title.) (End: 3:23) Great production overall. Instrumentation superb. Nashville playing/recording know-how!
"Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" is a more complex Storyline, demanding more words to do the Exposition, the scene-setting.
It begins with a 'recitation', less 'sung' than 'recited';
You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen, Comet, and Cupid, and Donner, and Blitzen. But do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all?
And the Chorus Refrain opens the Verse; (commas 'rest' the Phrasing)
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, had a very shiny nose! And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows! All of the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names! They wouldn't let poor Rudolph, join in any reindeer games!
Then the Melody changes, a change of dynamics, in what I will label a Bridge, breaking the monotony that more identical Repetition might risk.
Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say, "Rudolph, with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
The Melody at that point Repeats from the previous Verse (All of the other reindeer) Then all the reindeer loved him, and they shouted out with glee, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, you'll go down in history!
And Verse I with the Chorus Refrain, Repeats, and the ear welcomes back the familiar Melody and Lyric. Getting the story exposed demanded a lot of words. Structure simplified it, made it 'listenable' therefore 'memorable', memorizable, sing-along-able.
And that made it a classic, perennially played in Royalty-generating venues.
"Jingle Bells" is an interesting Structure. You can start with the Chorus;
Oh! Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells! Jingle all the way! Oh! What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh! Oh! Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells! Jingle all the way! Oh! What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!
There's a slight variation in the Melody of the 2nd and 4th Lines, that is effective in how we perceive the 'completeness' of the Chorus. We know by that slight Melodic difference that the Chorus has more to say, by the end of Line 2, and has said all it has to say by the end of Line 4, and that something else in the Structure is ready to follow; the Verse.
Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh! O'er the fields we go, laughing all the way! Bells on bobtails ring, making spirits bright! Oh! What fun it is to sing a sleighing song tonight!
The commas break the Phrasing up, affecting how we 'hear' it, how we process the word meanings in the simple Phrases, and put the whole together in our comprehension.
At the end of the Verse we're ready to hear the Chorus Repeat. By the end of the second giving of the Chorus, I, for one, don't mind hearing the Verse again. The Verse is delivered, Melodically, in an 'expositional' mode, exposing more of the scene-setting from the Chorus. There is simple 'repetition' of 'one-horse open sleigh' in the Verse, from the Chorus, and 'sleighing', with the addition of 'dashing through the snow' and the 'bells on bobtails', the belled tails of the horses further 'exposing' the Storyline, the scene-setting. The Melody of the Verse ends in a way that implies it is 'time' for the Chorus.
The Structure can Repeat from the start. At some point it will become redundant, perhaps exhausting the 'interest' of listeners and sing-along, but it goes much further than most Songs in sustaining listener interest and sing-along participation. That is an 'effect' of the Melodic nuances and the 'fullness' of the Chorus and Verse Structures, and the overall Structure. Time is important. Both Chorus and Verse go on long 'Enough' to keep us interested, and stop when we have been 'prepared' for a change of dynamics, supplied by the other Stanza.
Just those two Stanzas can be very entertaining. There are other versions of the Lyric with additional Verses. Note that this one still opens with the Chorus, even doubling the Chorus, and, probably, still working to sustain listener/sing-along interest.
Jingle Bells Dashing through the snow On a one horse open sleigh O'er the fields we go, Laughing all the way Bells on bob tail ring, making spirits bright What fun it is to laugh and sing A sleighing song tonight
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh
A day or two ago, I thought I'd take a ride, And soon Miss Fanny Bright Was seated by my side; The horse was lean and lank Misfortune seemed his lot We got into a drifted bank, And then we got upsot.
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way! Oh, What fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh. Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way! Oh, What fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh.
Now the ground is white Go it while you're young Take the girls tonight And sing this sleighing song Just get a bob tailed bay two-forty as his speed Hitch him to an open sleigh And crack! you'll take the lead
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way! Oh, What fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh. Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way! Oh, What fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh.
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