Hidden meaning of 'Jingle Bells' revealed as people are shocked to find out the truth about it

Festive season has arrived with a bang and having these precious days off work has led us to wonder just where some of the most famous Christmas songs came from.

We're not talking about the likes of 'Driving Home for Christmas' or 'All I Want for Christmas is You' - obviously we know the story behind all of those modern hits.

We're talking about the songs that encapsulate the very essence of Christmas and seem like they've been around since the dawn of time.

To be specific, we've been wondering about the story surrounding 'Jingle Bells'.

It might surprise you to learn that it's not actually a Christmas song, and wasn't intended to be sung at this time of year.

The song was published for the first time all the way back in 1857 and was written by James Lord Pierpont - though we doubt he knew just how long his creation would last.

'Jingle Bells' has become synonymous with Christmas (Getty Stock Image)

As per the Washington Post, the song was in fact intended to be sung on Thanksgiving, which takes place on every fourth Thursday in November in the United States.

It wasn't always called 'Jingle Bells' either. The initial title was 'One Horse Open Sleigh,' but ultimately that got changed to the mouthful that is 'Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh' during a reprint in 1859.

As for where the song was penned, it seems like Massachusetts is the best guess.

In the 1800s, Medford in Massachusetts ran a lot of sleigh races, and has even claimed to be the place where 'Jingle Bells' originated.

A plaque displayed at 19 High Street, the site of the former Simpson Tavern, boasts that in 1850, Pierpont wrote the tune.

James Lord Pierpont wrote the song (Getty Stock Image)

According to Southern Living, Pierpont wrote the song 'for his father's Sunday school class to perform on Thanksgiving.'

As for why people love it so much, they write: "One theory is that the song was popular, so the children sang it again at Christmastime, thus associating it with Christmas. Another theory presumes that the only association with the holiday is the fact that the song talks about snow."

And when it comes to why we can't get enough of it at Christmas time rather than for it's intended purpose, they add: "It has been recorded many times, but it was Bing Crosby's jazzy 1943 version that cemented 'Jingle Bells' place in popular culture and Christmas celebrations for eternity."