The song is based on a traditional folk chant whose language was thought to have magical properties. The original traditional Ukrainian text used a device known as hemiola in the rhythm (alternating the accents within each measure from 3/4 to 6/8 and back again). The chant based on an ostinato four-note pattern within the range of a minor third is thought to be of prehistoric origins and was associated with the coming New Year which in Ukraine before the introduction of Christianity was originally celebrated in April. 

With the introduction of Christianity to Ukraine, the celebration of the New Year was moved from April to January and the holiday the chant describes became associated with the Feast of Epiphany also known in Ukrainian as Shchedry vechir. The songs sung for this celebration are known as Schedrivky. 

The original Ukrainian text tells the tale of a swallow flying into a household to proclaim the plentiful and bountiful year that the family will have."^[2] The title is derived from the Ukrainian word for "bountiful". 

In Ukraine, the carol is currently sung on the eve of the Julian New Year (January 13). 

The four-note melody over a minor third of the chant was used by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych as an ostinato theme in a number of arrangements he made. The arrangement for mixed voice choir a cappella was popularized by the Ukrainian Republic Capella directed by Oleksander Koshetz when it toured the West after 1920. 

The first of the English language lyrics to "Carol of the Bells" (a song based on the same melodic ideas) were written in 1936 by Peter Wilhousky of NBC Radio. The song reminded Wilhousky of beautiful ringing bells and he captured that imagery in his lyrics. There is also an English adaptation of the original Ukrainian by Stepan Pasicznyk.