Racist Examples Of The Children's Parody Songs "Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells"

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - December 27, 2023

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series that provides (word only) examples of the children's* parody songs with the title "Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells" or similar titles.

Non-racist and racist versions of "Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells" are part of a large group of parodies of the late 19th century "Jingle Bells" song.

This post presents some racist children's examples of "Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells".

Part II also includes two Addendums.

Addendum #1 presents the words to a racist parody of the "Jingle Bell" song that was sung in a YouTube video by a pre-teen or teenage White girl. (no link and video not embedded.) Selected comments from this video's discussion thread are also included in that Addendum.

Addendum #2 presents information about two New Hampshire high school students who composed and sung a racist parody of "Jingle Bells" in their school in early December 2018.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/12/non-racist-examples-of-childrens-parody.html for Part I of this series. ".

Note: Most of this post was originally published December 3, 2018 with the title Online Examples Of The Children's Parody Rhyme "Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells" From The Southern Region Of The United States.

I divided that post into two parts (non-racist examples and racist examples) to make it easier to find examples of those sub-categories.

I also sub-divided this compilation because I'm mindful of the fact that some schools and community centers prohibit any content that includes pejorative references such as what is commonly known as "the n word", even if that word is never fully spelled out on this pancocojams blog.

In contrast to my original post on these songs, this post includes some examples of "Jingle Bells Batman Smells/Shotgun Shells" that come from other regions of the United States than the South as well as some examples of these parodies that are posted online without any geographic location.

DISCLAIMER: This compilation is not meant to be a comprehensive collection of "Jingle Bells Batman Smells"/"Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells" children's rhymes. Also, note that this compilation doesn't include adult examples of "Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells".

*"Children" here means about 5 years old to 19 years old (teenagers/youth).

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The content of this post is presented for folkloric and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the authors of blog posts or internet articles who encouraged their site visitors to share examples and reminded them to include where and when they first chanted or heard specific examples of these rhymes.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
"Jingle Bell Shotgun Shells" is the title of children's songs or rhymes which are subsets of parodies of the late 19th century song "Jingle Bells".

Other children's parodies of "Jingle Bells" include "Jingle Bells Santa Smells" and  "Jingle Bells Santa Smells". "Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells" and "Jingle Bells Santa Smells" appear to predate "Jingle Bells Batman Smells", but all three of these parodies (and more) appear to still be sung in 2018.

With the exception of "Jingle Bells Batman Smells", I've found more examples online of Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells" than any other version of "Jingle Bells" children's songs.

WARNING: Most examples of "Jingle Bells" parodies songs (including "Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells") include violent lyrics. 
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/12/examples-of-questions-about-batmans-in.html for a related pancocojams post entitled Examples Of The "Batman's In The Kitchen" Verse In "Jingle Bells Batman Smells" Rhymes

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GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT "JINGLE BELLS BATMAN SMELLS" RHYMES & INFORMATION ABOUT THE RACIST SUB-SET OF THESE RHYMES
From https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-secret-true-history-jingle-bells-batman-smells "The Secret True History Of Jingle Bells Batman Smells", by Robert Evans, Dec 23, 2015

..."Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" Has A Dark Origin Story

The song we know as "Jingle Bells" was originally called "One Horse Open Sleigh," after a section of the lyrics we apparently care about a lot less than the words "Jingle Bells." The original song was written in 1859 and intended to herald Thanksgiving, not Christmas. At some point over the next century, kids in the South started making it "funny." The earliest one Rob found was from Mississippi around 1950:

Jingle bells, shotgun shells Rabbits all the way Applesauce and sauerkraut And good old pork and beans

That's pretty innocent. And the commenters on Rob's article left many other early non-Batman variations. Oddly enough, most of these involved guns. The habit of making "funny" "Jingle Bells" parodies really seemed to take off during the Civil Rights movement.

Thanks to its ubiquitous Yuletide popularity, everyone knew the basic tune, so it was easy for ad hoc groups of angry racists to come up with charming little ditties like this one from Mississippi in 1961:

Jingle bells, shotgun shells Granny had a gun Pulled that trigger And shot that in 1961 * -snip-

The beauty of "Jingle Bells" is that the rhyme scheme is simple enough to adapt on the fly. It's likely that countless variations shot back and forth between kids over the next turbulent decade. The practice was apparently common enough that it earned an official mention in a 1970 biography of Martin Luther King. According to the book, during the 1966 Meredith civil rights march (from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi) "young" and rowdy marchers started chanting this:

Jingle bells, shotgun shells Freedom all the way Oh what fun it is to blast A trooper man away

So, children of the 1960s would've been used to hearing several different (and politically charged) versions of "Jingle Bells" by the time Batman had his TV debut. What's most noteworthy about "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" is that, once invented, it's persisted in the public consciousness right up to this very day. And at the end of an article filled with Vietnam, racism, and suggestions of murder, this actually leaves me pretty optimistic. No amount of hate is as catchy as Batman.” -snip- *This is the way this example is given in that article. The introduction to that example provides the only clue about the word that is missing after the word "shot" and before the word "in", but it seems obvious to me that the "n word" which rhymes with the word "trigger" was included in that version of that parody. **** EXAMPLES OF RACIST VERSIONS OF THE CHILDREN'S PARODY RHYME "JINGLE BELLS BATMAN SMELLS"/ "JINGLE  BELLS SHOTGUN SHELLS" (and similar titles)

The website sources for these examples are given in no particular order. The examples are given in relative chronological order (within each link) based on their publishing date, except for response. Numbers are assigned consecutively within each link for referencing purposes only.

Website #1:
From https://www.robweir.com/blog/2006/01/jingle-bells-batman-smells.html Jingle Bells, Batman Smells by ROB on 2006/01/09

1.Anonymous
2008/12/24, 2:40 am
Jingle bells, shotgun shells,
Granny had a gun,
Pulled that trigger and
Shot that N*****
in 1961.
-snip-
This is the way this example was written on that website.

I found this example on several other websites.

**
REPLY
2. Phil
2014/12/25, 4:25 pm
I heard it end with “Look at granny run”.

3. Bobby Bob Bob
2010/12/22, 5:43 pm
I heard a very racists one when I was really young probably 7-8 and did not know what all the words meant at the time.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Grandpa’s got a gun,
Pulled the trigger,
Shot a n****r,
Now he’s on the run
HEY!

I hope that my kids never learn this one before they know all the words. I got such a beating when I sang this one at home.
-snip-
This example is written that way on that website.

**
4. 14. Laural
2017/12/29, 6:44 pm
Jingle bell shotgun shells grandmas for a gun pulled the trigger shot at figure now she’s on the run
-snip-
"I believe that "figure" is an euphemism for what is commonly referred to as "the n word".

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Website #2:
From http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-secret-true-history-jingle-bells-batman-smells/ Robert Evans, December 23, 2015
"Thanks to its ubiquitous Yuletide popularity [of the Jingle Bells song] , everyone knew the basic tune, so it was easy for ad hoc groups of angry racists to come up with charming little ditties like this one from Mississippi in 1961:

Jingle bells, shotgun shells
Granny had a gun
Pulled that trigger
And shot that [you know damn well what word]* in 1961

The beauty of "Jingle Bells" is that the rhyme scheme is simple enough to adapt on the fly. It's likely that countless variations shot back and forth between kids over the next turbulent decade. The practice was apparently common enough that it earned an official mention in a 1970 biography of Martin Luther King**. According to the book, during the 1966 Meredith civil rights march (from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi) "young" and rowdy marchers started chanting this:

Jingle bells, shotgun shells
Freedom all the way
Oh what fun it is to blast
A trooper man away

*The book that is hyperlinked in that comment is King: A Biography By David L. Lewis

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Website #3:
From http://playgroundjungle.com/2009/12/jingle-bells-shotgun-shells.html
Jingle Bells, Shotgun Shells
Author: Adam Selzer December 7, 2009
[comment]
FergiSan May 24, 2014 at 5:41 am
I heard two versions of this "jingle" back in the 70's. One was "naughty," according to my mother, and the other one was pure racist (this was in the South in the 1970's)

Version 1
Jingle bells, shotgun shells
Rabbits all the way.
One jumped up, and I shot him in the butt,
and the other got away.

Version 2
Jingle bells, shotgun shells
Granny's got a gun.
Pulled the trigger, shot a ni***r,
Back in '61.
-snip-
This is the way this example was given on that page.

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ADDENDUM #1 -RACIST EXAMPLE OF "JINGLE BELLS" SUNG BY A YOUNG WHITE GIRL ON YOUTUBE (2012)
From 2012 YouTube video [no link given]
jingle bells jingle bells
grandmas got a gun
She pulled a trigger
Shot a [n word]*
Now she's on the run.
Hey!
-snip-
*The complete word was said in this video.

This song was sung by a pre-teen or teenage White girl.

Here are some comments from that video's discussion thread (with numbers assigned for referencing purposes only)
1. James Tillman, 2014
"My mom taught me that song. It's also a memory of my late granddad"

**
2. happymeltedcity, 2014
"I thought it was funny."

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3. A&K Productions, 2014
"don't use tht word"

**
REPLY
4. Zechairah McKenzie, 2018
"A&K Productions [wrote that n word referent with its complete spelling]

**
5. Jaden Brown, 2016
"horrible language wash your mouth with soap"

**
6. Charlene Robertson, 2017
"I've been trying to remember this song forever now. Sang this as a kid."

**
7. Supreme Angel, 2018
"Your racist"

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8. Orange Box singing, 2018
"That. Is racest. Very much how would u like if someone said that to you."
-snip-
Here's a comment from the girl who sung that song:

purple knees, 2016
"READ THIS
I am the one who originally posted this, but it was posted about 6 years ago.. and now i can't delete it as much as i have tried, i can not remember what my sign in was.. so if your offended, please just note that i don't think this is a good video, and i would honestly delete it if i could, but i can't so just go past this video. it shouldn't be a thing. just go on with your life and remember i was a f&&king* idiot.
thanks"
-snip-
*This word was fully spelled out.

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ADDENDUM #2- AN EXAMPLE OF A RACIST PARODY OF "JINGLE BELLS" (from New Hampshire, December 4, 2018)
Note: The content of this Addendum was edited by me and posted in the comment section of the original pancocojams "Jingle Bells Shotgun Shells" post.

On December 4, 2018 a number of online news articles were published about two high school students in Dover, New Hampshire who sung a racist parody of the late 19th century song "Jingle Bells" during a history class in their school.

Here's an excerpt from one of the articles about this incident in that New Hampshire high school:
https://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/12/03/dover-nh-students-sing-song-about-kkk-to-jingle-bells/
"Dover, NH Students Sing Song About KKK To ‘Jingle Bells’
December 3, 2018 at 5:09 pm
"DOVER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire school superintendent is decrying a racially insensitive video of two high school students singing, “KKK, KKK, Let’s kill all the blacks,” to the tune of “Jingle Bells.”

Fosters Daily Democrat reports a cellphone video surfaced over the weekend of the students singing the song in class at Dover High School.

Superintendent William Harbron said in a letter to the school community Monday the incident was part of an assignment dealing with the Reconstruction period in American history, but said, “the impact was harmful.”

Harbron said the 11th graders had to select a history event and create a jingle for it. Two students selected the Ku Klux Klan."...

More information about the racist parody of "Jingle Bells" that was sung by two Dover, New Hampshire high school students can be found at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6457453/Racist-Recording-Students-New-Hampshire-KKK-lyrics-Jingle-Bells-history-lesson.html [December 4, 2018]. That website also includes a video of the two students singing the jingle that they made up.

I can't understand the verses to the song, but a handwritten photograph of the words to the chorus are shown in that web page. Here's that chorus:

"KKK
KKK
let’s kill all the blacks
burn a cross on their front yard
and hope they don’t come back, hey."

-snip-
As far as I can tell, this parody didn't include the words "Jingle Bell" but the tune to that was used for that parody was the familiar "Jingle Bells" tune. I wonder if these New Hampshire high school students had ever heard or read those racist "Jingle Bells" parodies before they made up their version that features the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) White supremacy organization.

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For what it's worth, here's some demographic information about Dover, New Hampshire from "http://www.city-data.com/city/Dover-New-Hampshire.html
..."Population in 2014: 30,665 (99% urban, 1% rural)….

Races in Dover, NH (2016)
White alone: 88.5%; 27,360
Asian alone: 4.5 %; 1,383
Two or more races: 3.5%; 1,073
Hispanic: 742; 2.4%
Black alone: 384; 1.2%
American Indian alone: 30; 0.10%
Other race alone 3 0.01%"...
-snip-
I wonder if the very small number of Black people and other people of color in Dover, New Hampshire contributed to this incident and the report that some other students laughed when they heard it sung.
-snip-
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