Top 5 Christmas Songs
Friend and fellow blogger Celeste has tagged me to do a list of my 5 favorite Christmas songs. Here they are:
5. “Christmas Time is Here” from Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas
4. “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” – Bruce Cockburn’s cover of Sam Phillips’ minor-key arrangement
3. Several very moving and beautiful songs from John Michael Talbot’s Christmas CD, The Birth of Jesus: “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” and his medley of “What Child is This” and “O Come O Come Emmanuel”
2. “Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel” from George Winston’s wintry classic, December
1. “O Holy Night” – my all-time favorite
I love the history of this 1847 song (the first Christmas carol to be broadcast on radio, in 1906), a song that was initially rejected by many churches because its lyricist was a “free-thinker” wine merchant, its composer was Jewish, and its third verse was decidedly anti-slavery:
Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sadly, most recorded versions of “O Holy Night” leave out that third verse. A recent one that doesn’t is from the new Christmas Offerings CD by Third Day, one of my favorite Christian rock groups. Their version is contemporary but still reverent – a good rendition of my all-time favorite Christmas carol, which has a somewhat-gnostic bent in its first verse: equating “sin” with “error” (rather than disobedience or transgression) and describing the appearance of the Christ child as the time when “the soul felt its worth.”
5. “Christmas Time is Here” from Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas
4. “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” – Bruce Cockburn’s cover of Sam Phillips’ minor-key arrangement
3. Several very moving and beautiful songs from John Michael Talbot’s Christmas CD, The Birth of Jesus: “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” and his medley of “What Child is This” and “O Come O Come Emmanuel”
2. “Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel” from George Winston’s wintry classic, December
1. “O Holy Night” – my all-time favorite
I love the history of this 1847 song (the first Christmas carol to be broadcast on radio, in 1906), a song that was initially rejected by many churches because its lyricist was a “free-thinker” wine merchant, its composer was Jewish, and its third verse was decidedly anti-slavery:
Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sadly, most recorded versions of “O Holy Night” leave out that third verse. A recent one that doesn’t is from the new Christmas Offerings CD by Third Day, one of my favorite Christian rock groups. Their version is contemporary but still reverent – a good rendition of my all-time favorite Christmas carol, which has a somewhat-gnostic bent in its first verse: equating “sin” with “error” (rather than disobedience or transgression) and describing the appearance of the Christ child as the time when “the soul felt its worth.”
Blessed Yule ~
Hamza
posted by Darrell Grizzle | 7:11 AM
6 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
It's funny, isn't it, that most of humanity has accepted the abolition of slavery as a "good thing", and does not desire its return.
At the same time, there is a not insignificant portion of the Abrahamic faithful that like to consider their Holy Books to be the sacred words of God Almighty, and as such to be taken literally.
And of course, slavery is a well-embraced concept in the these Holy Books.
Thanks for posting here, Steven. I encourage my readers to check out Steven's blog, Hiking and Seeking:
http://hi-seekers.blogspot.com/
~ Darrell
I like Sarah McLachlan's new christmas album "Wintersong" - esp her take on "The First Noel/Mary." I like Cyndi Lauper's version of "Silent Night." And, of course, John Lennon's "So this is Christmas (War is Over)."
Darrell,
I planned to e-mail you this reply, but couldn't find you address, so another comment.
Such a surprise to see a comment on my Hiking and Seeking blog -- it has been quite some time since I've been over here. You showed some good archeological skills. This blog was created during my active "seeking" phase.
Not sure if you have checked out my other, more recent blogs:Just Un-Do It and Reflections of Beauty. They are updated more often these days.
Thanks much for the visit. I hope to see you around. Happy Holidays.
Thanks, Bear, for your comments on 'O Holy Night.' It has always been my favorite too, but I never knew all those things about the author--they even more strongly confirm my allegiance to that song. I greatly enjoy the 3rd verse as well, though I have not heard it very often.
Happy New Year!
Peter
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