Cover art for 12 Days of Christmas by Boston Pops Orchestra
Sep. 14, 20091 viewer5.2K views

12 Days of Christmas Lyrics

Under the Christmas Tree there are presents
What do you think those gifts might be?
One for each day of the Christmas season
What do you think my true love gave to me?

(Whoa!)

On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
A Partridge in a Pear Tree

On the second day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Two Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

All I want for Christmas is my two turtle doves!

... and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

On the third day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Three French Hens
And Two Turtle Doves
They're the gifts from my own true love
One more present
Is that a pheasant?
No it's a Partridge in a Pear Tree (oh, oh)

On the ninth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a-Milking
Seven Swans a-Swimming
Six Geese a-Laying (Laying)
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
And Two Turtle Doves


And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

On the tenth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Ten Lords a-Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a-Milking
Seven Swans Swimming
Six Geese a-Laying
Five Gold Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
And a Partridge, Partridge, Partridge
Partridge, Partridge, Partridge
In a Tree!


On the eleventh day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a-Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a-Milking
Seven Swans a-Swimming
Six Geese a-Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds (Hello?)
Three French Hens
(Bonjour! Bonjour.)
Two Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree


A Partridge?
No not in a Pear Tree, in a tree
A Partridge
Not in a pear tree, in a tree
In a pear tree
Oh my true love, oh my true love
Oh my true love gave to me
Two turtle doves and a partridge in a tree for me (for me) (for me!)


On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Not a monkey on a flagpole, but
12 Drummers all a-Drumming
(pah-rum pum pum...)
They were followed by Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a-Leaping (here they come, come come come...)
All the Ladies and the Milkmaids started Dancing
And the Swans and Geese all Swam
And there were Five Gold Rings
And Four Calling Birds
And Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves


... And a Partridge in a Pear Tree (and a Partridge in a Pear Tree);
Five Gold Rings
And Four Calling Birds
Five Gold Rings
And Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens (Three French Hens and Two tiny Turtle Doves)
For Christmas
For Christmas
For Christmas
For Christmas
My true love
My true love
My true love
My true love
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

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