Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. ~ Isaiah 7:14
Christmas Song Lyrics Compiled by Charles P. Scott
Nuttin’ for Christmas
Lyrics
I broke my bat on Johnny's head;
Somebody snitched on me.
I hid a frog in sister's bed;
Somebody snitched on me.
I spilled some ink on Mommy's rug;
I made Tommy eat a bug;
Bought some gum with a penny slug;
Somebody snitched on me.
Oh, I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas
'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.
I put a tack on teacher's chair
Somebody snitched on me.
I tied a knot in Susie's hair
Somebody snitched on me.
I did a dance on Mommy's plants
Climbed a tree and tore my pants
Filled the sugar bowl with ants
Somebody snitched on me.
Oh, I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas
'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.
I won't be seeing Santa Claus;
Somebody snitched on me.
He won't come visit me because
Somebody snitched on me.
Next year I'll be going straight;
Next year I'll be good, just wait
I'd start now, but it's too late;
Somebody snitched on me.
So you better be good whatever you do
'Cause if you're bad, I'm warning you,
You'll get nuttin' for Christmas.
About This Song
"Nuttin' for Christmas" (also known as "Nothing for Christmas") is a novelty Christmas song written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. It became a hit during the 1955 holiday season when it appeared in Billboard’s pop charts by five other artists. The highest-charting of the five recordings was released by Art Mooney and His Orchestra, with six-year-old Barry Gordon as lead vocalist.
The song is sung from the perspective of a boy reciting a long list of his bad deeds, ranging from benign (tearing his pants while climbing a tree, spilling ink on a rug) to mischievous (making a friend eat a bug, hiding a frog in his sister's bed) to felonies (assaulting an acquaintance with a baseball bat to the head, using a counterfeit "penny slug" to buy gum). Because of this rap sheet, the singer has angered his parents, and has been placed on Santa Claus's "naughty list," ensuring he will receive nothing for the holiday, to which the boy is further insulted because he believes some unseen person (most likely one of Santa’s elves) ratted him out for each misdeed. In the end, though he acknowledges "it's too late" to change his fate for this year, he vows to improve his behavior for next year to avoid a repeat and warns the listener not to repeat his mistakes.
