"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" is a novelty

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject m ...

written by

Ross Bagdasarian Ross S. Bagdasarian (; January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), known professionally by his stage name David Seville, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor, best known for creating the cartoon band Alvin and the Chipmun ...

(under the stage name of David Seville) in 1958. Bagdasarian sang and recorded the song, varying the tape speeds to produce high-pitched " chipmunk" voices, with the vocals credited to

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three ...

, Seville's cartoon virtual band. The song won three

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

in 1958, for Best Comedy Performance, Best Children's Recording, and Best Engineered Record (non-classical).

Commercial performance

The song was very successful, reaching No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, becoming The Chipmunks' first (and only), as well as David Seville's second and final, No. 1 single. It had the distinction of being the only Christmas record to reach No. 1 on the same chart until

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the w ...

’s " All I Want for Christmas Is You" did so 61 years later in 2019. The single sold 4.5 million copies in seven weeks, according to Ross Bagdasarian Jr. It eventually sold 12 million copies. Before the song's success, "The Chipmunk Song" was featured on ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pr ...

's'' "Rate-A-Record" segment and received the lowest possible rating of 35 across the board. Between 1958 and 1962, the single re-entered the Hot 100 several times, peaking at No. 41 in 1958, No. 45 in 1960, and No. 39 in 1962. (Starting in 1963, ''Billboard'' would list recurrent Christmas songs on a separate chart.) The song charted on the Hot Digital Songs for the first time in 2005, peaking at No. 35. With the release and popularity of the film ''

'' in December 2007, "The Chipmunk Song" re-entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at No. 70. At the same time, a remixed version of the song that appears on the Chipmunks' 2007 album (and soundtrack to the film) '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'', peaked at No. 66 and was credited as "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) (2007 Version)". As of December 25, 2011,

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

estimated total sales of two versions of the digital track by The Chipmunks at 867,000 downloads, placing it third on the list of all-time best-selling Christmas/holiday digital singles in SoundScan history (behind

's 1994 hit single " All I Want for Christmas Is You" and

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel ...

's 1996 track "

Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" is an instrumental medley of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" and " Shchedryk", first released on the Savatage album '' Dead Winter Dead'' in 1995 as "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)." It was re-released by the Trans ...

").

Track listing

Original 1958 release

1959 reissue

1961 reissue

Adaptation in other media

*The song was adapted into a musical segment in 1961 for ''

The Alvin Show ''The Alvin Show'' is an American animated television series that aired on CBS in the early 1960s. This was the first series to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks. ''The Alvin Show'' aired for one season, from October 4, 1961, ...

''. The segment depicts Alvin sifting through various presents to find a hula hoop, even as he reluctantly sings along with the other Chipmunks. At the end of the song, Seville rewards Simon and Theodore with toy planes and Alvin with his hula hoop. The subsequent argument about singing the song again ends abruptly with their Christmas tree falling over, and Seville and the Chipmunks emerge from the mess to wish the viewers a merry Christmas. This segment was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in March 2015 as part of a three-episode set of ''The Alvin Show''.''The Alvin Show'' DVD/Blu-Ray release
/ref> *The song was resurrected for the 1981 NBC Christmas television special ''

A Chipmunk Christmas ''A Chipmunk Christmas'' is a 1981 animated Christmas television special based on characters from ''Alvin and the Chipmunks''. Produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Chuck Jones Enterprises, it first aired on NBC December 14, 19 ...

''. A depressed Alvin sings along flatly at first (much like the 1958 original), but then leaves the studio to give away his

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

to a sick boy. Though Seville starts to resume recording the song without Alvin, Alvin returns in the nick of time to sing the song with the others. *The song was later featured in an episode of the NBC Saturday morning series ''

'' (1983–1990), in the episode "Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll". In that version, Alvin is taken by Dave (as the Spirit of Christmas Past) to his old house, a cabin lodge where he saw Dave and younger versions of himself, Simon and Theodore. There, it was revealed that Dave wrote the song (called "The Christmas Song" in this episode), because it was inspired by the gifts that the young Chipmunks gave him (which were an eraser, a pencil and a piece of paper). *The song was prominently featured in the 2007

computer animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...

film ''

''. A scene similar to that of the original segment on ''The Alvin Show'' appears with

Jason Lee Jason Lee may refer to: Entertainment *Jason Lee (actor) (born 1970), American film and TV actor and former professional skateboarder *Jason Scott Lee (born 1966), Asian American film actor * Jaxon Lee (Jason Christopher Lee, born 1968), American v ...

portraying Dave Seville. The film also features the original track by Ross Bagdasarian Sr., a remake with Ross Jr as Dave, and a new rock mix with Lee as Dave, both of which appear on the film's soundtrack. The original track is played briefly during a flashback in '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.'' *The original recording has been used in the feature films '' Rocky IV'' (1985), ''

Look Who's Talking Now ''Look Who's Talking Now'' is a 1993 American romantic comedy film, and the third and final installment in the film series that began with ''Look Who's Talking'' in 1989. It finds John Travolta and Kirstie Alley reprising their roles as James an ...

'' (1993), ''

Donnie Brasco Joseph Dominick Pistone (born September 17, 1939), is an American former FBI agent who worked undercover as Donnie Brasco between September 1976 and July 1981, as part of an infiltration primarily into the Bonanno crime family, and to a lesser ...

'' (1997), '' Almost Famous'' (2000), '' Whiskey Tango Foxtrot'' (2016) and '' The Fate of the Furious'' (2017). *The Chipmunks performed a smooth jazz version of the song with

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling artis ...

on the saxophone for their 1994 album ''

A Very Merry Chipmunk ''A Very Merry Chipmunk'' is a 1994 music album by ''Alvin and the Chipmunks'', released by Sony Wonder. It is their fourth Christmas album. The album reached #147 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It was the first in a series of 25 Christmas compila ...

''. They also performed a duet version with

Jaci Velasquez Jacquelyn "Jaci" Davette Velasquez (Spanish ''Jaci Velásquez'', born October 15, 1979) is an American actress and contemporary Christian music, contemporary Christian and Latin pop singer and songwriter, performing in both English and Spanis ...

for her 2001 album ''

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

'' in which Alvin tries to flirt with Jaci in Spanish and changes the lyric "I want a hula hoop" to "I want a date with you." *On a Christmas episode of '' The King of Queens'', the character Doug Heffernan says it's his favorite Christmas song, but his father-in-law Arthur Spooner despises it, chastising Alvin for his delays in the song, saying it "throws the other chipmunks off". However, Arthur soon takes a great liking to the song and continually plays it throughout the episode, much to Doug and his wife Carrie's annoyance. *

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

(as Dave), along with

Andy Samberg Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer and screenwriter. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island and was a cast member on '' Saturday Night Live'' from 200 ...

(as Simon), Fred Armisen (as Theodore) and Bill Hader (as Alvin) covered the song during the monologue section for the Christmas episode of ''Saturday Night Live'''s 32nd season. *In the 2009 film '' Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs'', the song is briefly sung by Crash and Eddie in a high pitch voice of both helium and gas. * Norah Jones recorded a cover of the song for her 2021 Christmas album, '' I Dream of Christmas''. *It is sung by the cast in the season 3 episode of

Mythic Quest ''Mythic Quest'' (known as ''Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet'' for its first season) is an American comedy television series created by Charlie Day, Megan Ganz, and Rob McElhenney for Apple TV+. The series premiered on February 7, 2020, and follow ...

, “The 12 Hours of Christmas”.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chipmunk Song 1958 songs Alvin and the Chipmunks songs American Christmas songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Songs written by Ross Bagdasarian Christmas novelty songs Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Liberty Records singles