About The Song
“Frosty the Snowman” is a Christmas song written by Walter “Jack” Rollins and Steve Nelson and first recorded by Gene Autry with the Cass County Boys for Columbia Records in 1950. The song was published on June 2, 1950 by Hill and Range Songs and issued as a single later that year, with the children’s novelty “When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter” on the B-side. Autry’s recording is typically classified as a Christmas, pop and country song and runs a little over two minutes.
The writers created “Frosty the Snowman” directly in the wake of Autry’s huge success with “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in 1949. Rollins and Nelson were already working in the character-song field and, encouraged by Rudolph’s sales, set out to craft another simple, story-based holiday lyric. Once they had the new song, they specifically pitched it to Autry as a follow-up seasonal single. Columbia agreed, hoping to repeat the earlier hit formula with another children’s character tied to winter and snow rather than to Santa’s sleigh.
Recording took place at Columbia’s Hollywood studios in June 1950, with Autry’s music director Carl Cotner leading the orchestra. Contemporary label and later archive notes describe a light, bouncy arrangement built around rhythm section, strings, backing vocals and Autry’s clear lead voice. The Cass County Boys provided vocal support, and the overall sound matches the polished, family-oriented style of Autry’s other post-war recordings. Columbia released the track on both 78 rpm and 45 rpm singles for the 1950 holiday season, marketed to children and general pop listeners.
Lyrically, the song tells the story of Frosty, a snowman brought to life when children place a magic hat on his head. Once he comes alive, he laughs, runs and plays with the children through the town, briefly runs into trouble with a traffic policeman and then has to say goodbye as the warm weather threatens to melt him. Before he goes, he reassures the children that he will return again “someday.” Christmas is not mentioned in the original words, but the winter setting, children’s viewpoint and seasonal release quickly led listeners to treat it as a Christmas song.
On the charts, Autry’s “Frosty the Snowman” was a substantial hit. Billboard data show that the single reached No. 2 for five consecutive weeks on the Best Selling Children’s Records chart in December 1950 and January 1951. It also crossed over to the main pop and country markets, peaking around No. 7 on the national pop best-seller chart and No. 4 on the country-and-western retail chart. In later years, the recording has reappeared on Billboard’s Holiday 100 and other seasonal airplay lists as recurrent interest in classic Christmas songs has grown.
The song’s popularity quickly extended beyond records. In 1950 it was adapted into a Little Golden Book for children, using Annie North Bedford’s text and Corinne Malvern’s illustrations, and an animated theatrical short was produced that same year. In 1969, the Rankin/Bass television special Frosty the Snowman introduced the character to a new generation, using Jimmy Durante’s version of the song as its musical basis. These adaptations and later re-broadcasts helped cement the link between Autry’s 1950 hit and the wider Frosty story in popular culture.
Over time, Gene Autry’s original version has remained one of the best-known recordings of “Frosty the Snowman.” It appears on collections such as The Original: Gene Autry Sings Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & Other Christmas Favorites and numerous Christmas anthologies, often sequenced alongside his other holiday staples like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Here Comes Santa Claus.” The song itself has been covered by many artists in pop, country and rock settings, but Autry’s 1950 single continues to serve as the reference point for the melody, tempo and general feel of this enduring seasonal standard.
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Lyric
Frosty the Snowman
Was a jolly happy soul
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And his eyes made out of coal
Frosty the Snowman
Made the children laugh and play
And were they surprised when before their eyes
He came to life that day
There must have been some magic
In that old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around
Oh, Frosty the Snowman
Was alive as he could be
And the children say he could laugh and play
Just the same as you and me
Frosty the Snowman
Knew the sun was hot that day
So he said let’s run and we’ll have fun
Before I melt away
So down to the village
With a broomstick in his hand
Running here and there all around the square
Saying catch me if you can
He led them down the streets of town
Right to the traffic cops
And he only paused a moment
When he heard him holler stop
For Frosty the Snowman
Had to hurry on his way
But he waved goodbye saying don’t you cry
I’ll be back again some day
There must have been some magic
In that old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around
Oh, Frosty the Snowman
Was alive as he could be
And the children say he could laugh and play
Just the same as you and me
Thumpety, thump, thump
Thumpety, thump, thump
Look at Frosty go
Thumpety, thump, thump
Thumpety, thump, thump
Over the hills of snow