May your days be merry and bright

With all the thrills upon it

Elephants, boats and kiddie cars, too

Elephants, boats and kiddie cars, too.

This was your up and at 'em day

No singing can cause any bells to ring, and one can't sing anything within one's heart.

Having every sentence end in the same 4 letters does not make a rhyme. Sorry, Bing.

In general this is a joyful song exulting in the festive nature of the Christmas season. So why the heck does it have to incongruously interrupt the mood with this one line seeming to say that Mom and Dad are just anxious to get it all over with and see less of the kids?

Wouldn't his immediate needs be better served by warm clothing and/or blankets?

Five-and-ten cent stores (called 'five-and-ten' for short were an abundant thing (in the U.S. at least) when this song came out. Back then they even lived up to their name by having various items for five or ten cents. Hardly anyone back then in the U.S. could have been unfamiliar with such establishments, as even a rather small town might have several within its central business district. Then as suburban shopping centers became an in place to shop, most any good sized shopping center might have one or more such store, and even small shopping centers might well have one. For awhile after inflation made them unable to live up to the name 'five-and-ten' some such stores remained around, under other names such as 'variety store'. But today, they have almost entirely disappeared and surely some of today's young people have no conception of such places. While they could well be the focus of glistening Christmas displays coming to most any neighborhood once upon a time, now the remnants of what were once 'five-and-ten cent stores' are rare and many a young listener might have no idea what these lines are talking about.

Holiday Inn is a hotel chain as well as the name of a 1942 film starring Crosby himself.

Mele Kalikimaka means Merry Christmas in Hawaiian.

And mom and dad can hardly wait for ghoul to start a skin.