Winter Wonderland is another perfect song for a snowy, blustery day like today. It reminds us after the storm there’ll be wintry paths to play along, creating snowmen while building dreams of the future.
It’s a story of a couple in love – gender, age or race is NOT specified – so it could apply to anyone. This couple either DO plan to tie the knot – hence the Parson Brown, or DO NOT have any such plans – as they know that a snowman could NOT show up in town, they can pretend to promise him anything.
There’s a great version of this old classic, with the one and only Bing Crosby and the London Symphony Orchestra: https://youtu.be/ZBlwZym4dfk. It’s been updated to remove the regrettable references to Eskimos that appeared in the original tune.
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.
In the meadow we can build a snowman
And pretend he is Parson Brown
He’ll say: Are you married?
We'll say: No man
But you can do the job
When 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.
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.
In the meadow we can build a snowman,
And pretend that he's a circus clown
We’ll have lots of fun with mister snowman,
Until the other kiddies knock him down
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.
Walking in a winter wonderland
(Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith, 1934)
