Three Dog Night, Joy To The World | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 104th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Joy To The World” by Three Dog Night.   

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 104^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Joy To The World” performed by Three Dog Night.

“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.” Say what? What does this mean? Is the bullfrog Jeremiah from The Bible? What do we make of the wine? Speculate whatever you will! “Joy To The World” is a triumphant gem from the rock band, Three Dog Night.  Three Dog Night during the “Joy To The World” days featured Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, and Cory Wells on vocals.  Negron sings lead. The band did not write the song.  Those songwriting honors belong to Hoyt Axton. Richard Podolor produced.  “Joy To The World” is the tenth track on the band’s 1970 album, Naturally.

Unsurprisingly, “Joy To The World” reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.  How could it not? A bullfrog named Jeremiah, and later, Chuck Negron hypothetically becoming “the king of the world” to “throw away the cars and the bars and the wars / [and] Make sweet love to you.” Woo hoo! Are the lyrics deep? Maybe, or maybe not. Regardless, “Joy To The World” is marvelous – utterly infectious.  It begins with a killer electric keyboard part.  Negron gives us gritty lead vocals, while the harmonized vocals (Negron, Hutton, and Wells) are superb too.  Energetic from the beginning, the best moment of the song is the sing-along, unforgettable chorus:

“Joy to the world

All the boys and girls

Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea

Joy to you and me.”

Keeping “Joy To The World” interesting is an epic key change two-and-a-quarter minutes in. The riffs become more high-flying as the song progresses. The iconic chorus is repeated numerous times, ultimately fading out at the end. “Joy To The World” is a classic that doesn’t require extensive analysis.  Maybe the lyrics mean more and perhaps they don’t.  It doesn’t matter.  This song has stood and will continue to stand the test of time.

Three Dog Night, // Naturally // MCA // 1970

Three Dog Night, Joy To The World: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 104 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; MCA; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]