‘Joy to the World’ is a song written by Hoyt Axton and made famous by the band Three Dog Night. The song is also popularly known by its opening lyric, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog". Three Dog Night originally released the song on their fourth studio album, Naturally, in November 1970, and subsequently released an edited version of the song as a single in February 1971. The song, which has been described by members of Three Dog Night as a "kid's song" and a "silly song", topped the singles charts in North America, was certified gold by the RIAA, and has since been covered by multiple artists.
Hoyt Axton wrote this for an animated TV special called The Happy Song that never materialized. Axton, who was a popular country singer-songwriter from Oklahoma, pitched it to the group while he opened for them on a tour. When Hoyt Axton performed the song to the group, two of the three main vocalists – Danny Hutton and Cory Wells – rejected the song, but Chuck Negron felt that the band needed a "silly song" to help bring the band back together as a working unit. Negron also felt that the song "wasn't even close to our best record, but it might have been one of our most honest."
Unlike most Three Dog Night songs recorded at that point, instead of having just the three main vocalists singing harmony, the song was recorded with all seven members of the band singing. Drummer Floyd Sneed sings the deep lyric "I wanna tell you" towards the end of the song. When the song hit number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1971, Axton and his mother, Mae Axton, became the first mother and son to each have written a number one pop single in the rock era. Mae Axton co-wrote ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, which was the first number one hit for Elvis Presley.
The Naturally album was released in November 1970, and the first single to chart from the album was ‘One Man Band,’ which peaked at #19 US in December. ‘Joy To The World’ was a lowly album cut, until Seattle radio DJ, Larry Bergman brought it to life. Larry told Songfacts: "I was the DJ who first played 'Joy To The World' on the radio that caused it to start its journey to #1. I was working at radio station KISW-FM at the time. It was the sister station to the number one radio station in Seattle, KJR-AM. That was when AMs were more popular than FMs. My job was to select odd cuts from albums by popular artists, not necessarily their hits, and record them on tape for on-air use.”
Bergman continued, “I remember I needed to find one more song to fill a tape I was producing and came across Joy To The World. It was on the second side, last cut on their Naturally album. I put it on the tape and played it on the air. Within the hour the KJR DJ (Gary Shannon) came running over from the AM side and asked where I got that song. 'People were calling,' he said. I told him and he had me record it on to another tape for him. He took it and played it on KJR and within a few weeks it went to #1 in Seattle. It wasn't long after that the song reached #1 on Billboard. The station got a gold record for it and Three Dog Night came to Seattle to launch their next album."
Label – Dunhill
Songwriter – Hoyt Axton
Producer – Richard Podolor
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Jeremiah was a bullfrog
Was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said
But I helped him a-drink his wine
And he always had some mighty fine wine
Singin'
[Chorus]
Joy to the world
All the boys and girls, now
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea
Joy to you and me
[Verse 2]
If I were the king of the world
Tell you what I'd do
I'd throw away the cars and the bars and the wars
Make sweet love to you
Sing it now
[Chorus]
(Joy) to the world
(All) the boys and girls
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea
(Joy to you and me)
[Verse 3]
You know I love the ladies
Love to have my fun
I'm a high night flier and a rainbow rider (ha ha ha)
And a straight-shooting son of a gun (alright)
I said a straight shootin' (son of a gun)
[Chorus]
(Joy to the world)
(All the boys and girls)
(Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea)
(Joy to you and me)
[Chorus]
(Joy to the world)
(All the boys and girls)
(Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea)
(Joy to you and me)
[Bridge]
(Joy to the world)
(All the boys and girls)
(Joy to the world)
(Joy to you and me)
[Chorus]
(Joy to the world)
(All the boys and girls) now
(Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea)
(Joy to you and me)
Ahhhh yeah!
[Chorus]
(Joy to the world) yeah YEAH!
(All the boys and girls) Yowwwww
(Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea)
(Joy to you and me)
You know I mean to
[Chorus]
(Joy to the world) Yeah! Yeah!
(All the boys and girls)
(Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea)
(Joy to you and me)
You know I mean to
[Chorus]
(Joy to the world) You know I mean to
(All the boys and girls) Yeah yeah
(Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea)
(Joy to you and me) Wahhh yeah
[Outro]
(Joy to the world) Let me tell ya 'bout it
(All the boys and girls)