Cover art for The Twelve Days of Christmas by The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square
Oct. 16, 20151 viewer

The Twelve Days of Christmas Lyrics

[Intro: Count von Count, Grover, & Ernie]
Cue the pipe organ!
Okay, Grover
Greetings, it is I, the Count!
Ah, yes
And now, the great Richard Elliott shall play his masterful version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
And I, The Count, shall help him count

[Verse 1: Count von Count]
Day one
On the first day of Christmas, what did my true love give to me?
One partridge in one pear tree
A very strange gift, but thoughtful just the same

[Verse 2: Count von Count]
Next comes day two
Two turtle doves
And as we say on Sesame Street, the letter T is for "two"
Ah, ha, ha

[Verse 3: Count von Count]
Day three
My true love gave to me three
Three French hens
She must have a thing for birds
[Verse 4: Count von Count]
Day four
You guessed it, more birds
[Organ Solo: Richard Elliott]
Hmm, calling birds
Who knew they liked to use the telephone?
Ah, ha, ha

[Verse 5: Count von Count]
And now, day five
Oh, happy day
Five golden rings and five happy couples
[Organ Solo]

Oh, oh, I always cry at weddings, oh

[Verse 6: Count von Count]
Now, on day six
My true love gave to me
Six geese a-laying
Again with the birds!

[Verse 7: Count von Count]
Day seven
Unbelievable, but true
My true love gave to me
Seven swans
As if I did not have enough birds already!
[Verse 8: Count von Count]
But then we get to day eight
And finally, my true love has taken the hint
No more birds
Just eight maids a-milking
Ah, wonderful!

[Verse 9: Count von Count]
Day nine!
Oh, this is a fun one
Nine ladies dancing
And I want to dance as well!

[Verse 10: Count von Count & Richard Elliott]
Mmm, oh yes
Day ten!
Ten lords a-leaping
[Organ Solo]
Wow!
Those are some leaping feet, Mr. Elliott
Thank you

[Verse 11: Count von Count]
And now, my favorite part
The pipers piping part
One moment
Day eleven
We don't need the eleven pipers piping
We have plenty of pipes to go around

Let us play together
Here we go
[Verse 12: Count von Count]
And now, finally
On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming

[Outro: Count von Count & Organ Solo]
The twelve days of Christmas, ah, wonderful
Now, what else can I count?
Ah, the trees
That's one Christmas tree, two Christmas trees
Three trees, four trees
Ah, what else?
Ah yes, the Choir, I will count the choir
That's one choir member, two choir members
Three— 360 choir members!
Ah, now, all the people
Ah, I will, uh, count yourselves, people!
The Twelve Days of Christmas
I love it!
[Organ Solo]
Ah, ha, ha!
Wonderful, ah yes
Just wonderful, Mr. Elliott

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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Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square say about "The Twelve Days of Christmas"?
Genius Answer

Organist Richard Elliott incorporated a different song into each of the Twelve Days and explained the inspiration behind each. Those explanations can be viewed here.

  1. 3.
    The Candy Man / A Pocket Full of Miracles (Missing Lyrics)
  2. 4.
    Some Children See Him (Missing Lyrics)
  3. 5.
    Marche Miniature (From ”Suite for Orchestra in D Minor, Op. 43") (Missing Lyrics)
  4. 6.
    Hear, King of Angels (From ”Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248") (Missing Lyrics)
  5. 7.
    Cum Sancto Spiritu (From ”Petite messe solennelle”) (Missing Lyrics)
  6. 8.
    Sesame Street Theme (Missing Lyrics)
  7. 9.
    People in Your Neighborhood (Missing Lyrics)
  8. 10.
    Sing (Missing Lyrics)
  9. 11.
    The Wonder of Winter (Missing Lyrics)
  10. 12.
    The Twelve Days of Christmas
  11. 14.
    Everyone Who Likes Christmas Say, “I Do!” (Missing Lyrics)
  12. 15.
    Infant Holy, Infant Lowly (Missing Lyrics)
  13. 18.
    We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Missing Lyrics)
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