Jack Skellington is basically the patron saint of being burnt out. We’ve all been there. You do the same thing every year, you're the best at it, and yet, you feel totally empty inside. That's the vibe right before the Nightmare Before Christmas lyrics what’s this kick in and change the entire trajectory of the movie.
Danny Elfman didn't just write a song here; he captured the literal feeling of a dopamine hit.
When Jack falls through that tree portal and lands in Christmas Town, the music shifts from the somber, minor-key drudgery of Halloween to something frantic. It’s breathless. If you look at the sheet music or just listen closely, the tempo is kind of insane. It mirrors a panic attack, but like, a happy one? Jack is spinning around, touching things he doesn't understand, and trying to categorize a world that doesn't fit his "scary" mental model. It’s pure discovery.
The Genius Behind the Nightmare Before Christmas Lyrics What's This
Danny Elfman actually provided the singing voice for Jack, which is a big reason why the song feels so personal. He wasn't just a composer handing off notes to an actor. He was in the booth, breathing that frantic energy into the microphone.
The lyrics are a masterpiece of descriptive confusion. Jack sees "white things in the air" because he doesn't have the word for "snow." He sees "electric lights" and "mistletoe," but he’s viewing them through the lens of someone who only knows shadows and frights.
"There's children throwing snowballs / instead of throwing heads / they're busy building toys / and absolutely no one's dead!"
That specific line is the core of the whole film. It’s the juxtaposition of the macabre and the mundane. For Jack, "no one's dead" is a shocking plot twist. It’s hilarious, honestly. But it also shows how isolated the citizens of Halloween Town really are. They have a completely skewed version of reality.
Why the Rhyme Scheme Works So Well
Most Disney-era songs (even though this was originally released under Touchstone) follow a very strict AABB or ABAB rhyme scheme. Elfman messes with that. He uses internal rhymes and rapid-fire delivery that makes the Nightmare Before Christmas lyrics what’s this feel more like a Broadway patter song than a standard ballad.
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Think about the way he says, "The monsters are all missing and the nightmares can't be found / and in their place there seems to be good feeling all around." It’s bouncy. It’s caffeinated.
There's a specific linguistic trick happening here called "defamiliarization." By having Jack describe Christmas things—which we all know—as if they are alien artifacts, it makes the audience see Christmas through fresh eyes. We take snow for right. Jack sees "frost on every window." He’s amazed by the "smell of cakes and pies."
It makes you wonder if we’ve all become a bit too cynical about the holidays.
Decoding the Visual Storytelling
You can't talk about the lyrics without talking about Henry Selick's direction. The way Jack moves during this sequence is spindly and chaotic. He’s a skeleton out of water.
Every time a new verse starts, the color palette shifts. We go from the monochromatic grays of the forest to these explosive reds, greens, and golds. It’s a sensory overload. If the lyrics were slower, the animation wouldn't work. If the animation were slower, the lyrics would feel rushed. They are perfectly synced in a way that stop-motion rarely achieves because of how labor-intensive the process is.
Did you know they had to swap out Jack’s head hundreds of times just for this one song? Each "What’s this?" required a different facial expression—wide-eyed wonder, confusion, slight suspicion, and then back to joy.
The Misconceptions About Jack's Motivation
A lot of people think Jack wants to "steal" Christmas because he’s evil. That’s totally wrong.
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If you listen to the Nightmare Before Christmas lyrics what’s this, he’s actually falling in love. He’s obsessed. He doesn't want to destroy Christmas; he wants to be Christmas. He’s looking for a way to fill the void in his ribcage.
"In my bones I feel the warmth that's coming from inside."
He’s literally experiencing a physical reaction to the atmosphere of Christmas Town. The tragedy of the movie isn't malice; it's a misunderstanding of culture. Jack thinks you can break Christmas down into a science—the "object transformations" he tries later—but this song proves it’s all about the feeling.
How to Perform This Without Passing Out
If you’ve ever tried to sing this at karaoke, you know it’s a trap. It’s a cardiovascular workout disguised as a song.
- Pacing: You have to breathe in the gaps between the "What's this?" refrains. If you miss one breath, you're toast by the time you get to the "shivers in my bones" part.
- Diction: The words "mistletoe," "chestnuts," and "storybooks" come at you fast. You need crisp consonants or it just sounds like gibberish.
- The Ending: That final sustained note on "I... must... find... out... what... is... THIS!" needs a lot of theatrical flair.
Most people mess up the bridge. "The sights, the sounds / Tea and pastries are being served, the pies are on the ground." It’s a weirdly specific set of lyrics that requires a lot of character acting to pull off.
The Legacy of the Song
It’s been decades since 1993, and this song is still a staple. It gets covered by everyone from Fall Out Boy to Pentatonix. Why? Because the Nightmare Before Christmas lyrics what’s this tap into that universal human experience of seeing something beautiful for the first time.
It’s also one of the few songs that works for two different holidays. Is it a Halloween song? Is it a Christmas song? It’s both. It’s the bridge between the two.
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Interestingly, the song almost didn't have the impact it does now. Early test screenings for the movie were actually quite mixed. People didn't know what to make of a "scary" movie that was also a musical. But once "What's This?" starts playing, it's almost impossible not to get swept up in Jack's enthusiasm. It’s the "I Want" song of the movie, just like "Part of Your World" or "Belle," but with more skeletons and existential dread.
Deep Meaning in the Small Details
Look at the lyrics regarding the "Nightmare" creatures. Jack notices the "monsters are all missing." To him, a world without monsters is an anomaly.
He’s fascinated by the "little silver tiny bells." He calls the tree "absolutely queer." In the 90s, that word was used more in its traditional sense of "strange" or "unusual," which fits Jack’s old-timey, gentlemanly persona perfectly.
The song ends with Jack taking a "souvenir" (the snowy branch). This is the inciting incident. Without this song and Jack's subsequent obsession with the lyrics' meaning, the rest of the plot doesn't happen. No Sandy Claws kidnapping, no skeletal reindeer, no Oogie Boogie showdown.
Putting it All Together
If you’re looking to truly master the Nightmare Before Christmas lyrics what’s this, you have to stop thinking like a singer and start thinking like a scientist who just discovered a new planet.
- Analyze the contrast: Note how Jack compares everything to his home (heads vs. snowballs).
- Embrace the chaos: The song isn't supposed to be pretty; it's supposed to be frantic.
- Watch the movie again: Pay attention to how the "What's this?" motif appears in the background score later on when Jack is trying to "calculate" Christmas.
The best way to appreciate these lyrics is to realize they represent the exact moment someone finds a new passion. We've all had that "What's this?" moment with a new hobby, a new relationship, or a new city. Jack just happened to find it in a portal in a tree.
To get the most out of your next rewatch or sing-along, try focusing on the percussion in the track. The bells and xylophones are doing a lot of heavy lifting to make the "What’s this?" lyrics feel magical. You can actually find isolated vocal tracks online that show just how much personality Danny Elfman put into every single syllable. It’s a masterclass in voice acting and songwriting colliding at high speed.
Go back and listen for the "hidden" instruments in the mix—there's a celesta and a lot of high-pitched woodwinds that give it that "sparkly" Christmas sound which contrasts perfectly with the heavy brass used for Halloween Town. Once you hear it, you can't un-hear it. It’s the sound of pure, unadulterated wonder.
Actionable Insights:
- Listen for the "Hidden" Backstory: Notice how Jack never mentions "joy" or "happiness" by name in the song—he only describes the physical objects. This shows he doesn't understand the concept of Christmas yet, only the stuff of it.
- Practice the Patter: If you're a performer, use this song to work on your "plosives" (p, b, t, d sounds). The lyrics are full of them, and they need to be sharp to be heard over the orchestra.
- Contextualize the Burnout: Re-read the lyrics of "Jack's Lament" immediately followed by "What's This?" to see the greatest musical transition in animation history. It's a 180-degree turn in character psychology that happens in under five minutes.
- Check the "souvenir" logic: The lyrics mention Jack taking things back with him. This is a crucial plot point—he tries to explain Christmas using physical evidence, which is why he fails. He tries to bring the "what" without the "why."