What is the last line in "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"?
Answer
You'll Go Down In History
The last line in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is “You’ll go down in history.”
The song was written by Johnny Marks in 1949, inspired by the 1939 children’s booklet Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, created for Montgomery Ward by Robert L. May. Marks’s lyrics tell how Rudolph’s glowing nose helps guide Santa’s sleigh through fog, turning an outcast into a celebrated hero.
The familiar closing line means Rudolph will be remembered for his extraordinary contribution. Some performances add spoken jokes or improvised phrases after it, such as comparisons to famous historical figures, but those additions are not part of the standard lyric. Likewise, “Rudolf” is an occasional spelling variant, while “Rudolph” is the character’s usual name in the song and story.
Gene Autry’s 1949 recording became the best-known early hit version, and many later artists have recorded the song. The lyric is sometimes confused with the ending of the 1964 television special, but the song’s canonical closing phrase remains the same.