The Most Famous Ukrainian Song: You'll Be Shocked

I’ve already covered a couple topics about Ukrainian music. You can check 5 Best music Bands from Ukraine, and also 10 Best Songs by Ukrainian artists. But today I want to surprise you by revealing the most famous song that you never knew is actually from that country.

It is a real shocker for practically everyone when they find out that this hit has Ukrainian origins. Mostly because the song is so well known, and so loved. And it is such an integral part of our culture that we just consider it to be universal or maybe American.

So what’s this mystery song? Drum-roll for a big reveal:

Carol of the Bells is the most famous song that most don’t even realize originates from Ukraine. The all time great Christmas carol hit is based on the Ukrainian New Year’s song “Shchedryk.”

The Origins of the Song

Carol of the Bells is based on “Shchedryk”, which is a Ukrainian folk song composed by Mykola Leontovych in 1914-1916. “Shchedryk” takes roots in an old Ukrainian chant that was traditionally sung during the New Year’s celebrations. The lyrics of that song tell the story of a swallow flying into a household to sing of wealth and prosperity for the coming year.

The tune of “Shchedryk” became famous worldwide after it was adapted into the English song “Carol of the Bells” by Peter J. Wilhousky in 1936. That version kept the song’s festive spirit, but the lyrics were modified. It literally became the winter holiday anthem. The line “merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas” kinda helps with that, don’t you think?

Huge Popularity of this Christmas Carol

Today “Carol of the Bells” is one of the most popular Christmas songs in many countries. It was performed by various artists countless times. It was used in different live events, television programs, video games, movies, shows, radio broadcasts.

Probably the most popular and well known example is the iconic film Home Alone (1990) starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern and other great actors. Here is the part of the movie where the song was used in its original form. You can also hear how the tune’s core melodic elements were integrated into a music score:

Different Versions of Carol of the Bells

And of course over the years there have been so many different variations of the song. Bands and musicians adapted Carol of the Bells to all possible musical genres, including rock/metal, jazz, country, pop. Let’s see nice examples of this immortal hit played in various styles.

Pop version by Pentatonix: