Reluctantly crouched at the starting line
Waiting, and ready, and pacing in time
When what to my wondering eyes did appear
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer
More rapid than eagles his coursers they flew
With a sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too
Reckless and wild, they pour through the turns
Their prowess is potent and secretly stem
As they speed through the air they don't dare look down
At the tops of the roofs of this slumbering town
All the world is asleep except for one man
Still driving and striving as fast as he can
So the moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below
But he's driving and striving and hugging the turns
And thinking of someone for whom he. still. burns.

He's going the DISTANCE
He's going for SPEED
He's all alone (all alone)
All alone on this CHRISTMAS EVE
Because he's racing and pacing and flying his sleigh
To every part of the world in a single day
He's going the DISTANCE.

Edit: much thanks to @BorrisInABox for this excellent recording below!!