“Joy to the World” was 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”. The song, which has been described by members of Three Dog Night as a “kid’s song” and a “silly song”, topped the main singles charts in North America, was certified gold by the RIAA.

Some of the words are nonsensical. Axton wanted to persuade his record producers to record a new melody he had written and the producers asked him to sing any words to the tune. A member of Three Dog Night said that the original lyrics to the song were “Jeremiah was a prophet” but “no one liked that”.

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.

Ed. Note: I got to see Three Dog Night as a VIP back in 2011 or 2012. They were still rocking and putting on an energetic show, after all those years. If you’re curious, they’re still touring and still making music. Use your favorite search engine, as they’re on tour right now and are playing small venues with very reasonable ticket prices.