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Post by Frank on Aug 23, 2006 18:54:15 GMT -5
Maybe I'm just weird, but when I hear a song the lyrics don't usually "sink in" for me until I've heard the song several times. I usually get "hooked" on a song because it's just catchy. It's been no different for Christmas carols. For many songs I've grown up with, the lyrics have gone in one ear and out the other. But I've only recently stopped to think how beautiful many carols' lyrics really are. I'm been particularly fond of What Child Is This and Gabriel's Message. The lyrics make great material for meditating on God's love. Does anyone have any other favorites? ("Favorite" because of the lyrics, not the tune!)
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Post by katycarl on Aug 24, 2006 0:48:10 GMT -5
I like "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Angels We Have Heard on High" -- I think they have more substantive lyrics than lots of other songs and just generally aren't sung often enough.
Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong? Say what may these tidings be Which inspire your heav'nly song?
What Child is This is also a personal favorite, for both tune and words. I know you requested we leave the tune out of it, but I find that hard to do. The First Noel, for example, has some lovely words, but I never have been able to love it as much, just because I find it musically less enjoyable. Does anyone else encounter this? It may just be my own persnicketiness, in which case I ought to try to counteract it.
Speaking of lyrics, there's also a "St. Joseph's Song" that can be sung in counterpoint with "What Child is This." It's very lovely when done this way, and the words are great for considering the saintly love and wonder of Christ's earthly, adoptive Dad at the Nativity. Unfortunately, I can't find it anywhere. Does anyone else know this song?
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Post by cristina on Aug 24, 2006 9:38:07 GMT -5
"What Child is This" is also a personal favorite because of the theology. I also love "Silent Night".
Also top among my favorites is the traditional Christmas song here in the Philippines. "Ang Pasko ay Sumapit" (Christmas has Come). The song has been overused. The lyrics of the song are simple and childlike, and a translation into English won't make them more artful. The first four lines:
Ang Pasko ay sumapit Tayo ay mangagsiawit Ng magagandang himig Dahil sa ang Diyos ay Pag-ibig
(Literal translation: Christmas has come/Let us sing/Beautiful songs/Because God is Love. Trust me; it does not sound this childish in Tagalog.)
The song is quaint, but for me, the charm of the song is precisely its depiction of simple childlike joy at the birth of Christ.
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Post by pierregambotsky on Aug 24, 2006 21:34:42 GMT -5
I freakin' LOVE "Oh, Holy Night," it's got such poetic, "meaty," and just all-around beautiful lyrics that sometimes it gives me chills to listen to it or sing it. Here it is:
Oh holy night! The stars are brightly shining It is the night of the dear Savior's birth! Long lay the world in sin and error pining Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!
Fall on your knees Oh hear the angel voices Oh night divine Oh night when Christ was born Oh night divine Oh night divine
Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming Here come the wise men from Orient land The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger In all our trials born to be our friend.
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 Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy name.
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Post by katycarl on Aug 24, 2006 23:57:14 GMT -5
How how how how HOW could I forget O Holy Night. Excellent, excellent choice.
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Post by pierregambotsky on Aug 25, 2006 13:50:02 GMT -5
Shame on you!
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Post by katycarl on Aug 25, 2006 15:50:24 GMT -5
*tears of penitence*
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Post by walker on Aug 25, 2006 21:54:25 GMT -5
"Oh, Holy Night" is the best. N*Sync does a surprisingly good a cappella rendition of it on their Christmas CD. *Noticing stares.* Uh, it's my little sister's.
Being distracted in prayer one day - a habit of mine - I got to thinking about how well alliteration and assonance are used in that song. O hOly, brIghtly shIning, glOrious mOrn, Weary World ... yeah, uh, you get the picture.
Do you find yourselves touched or apologetic against "Mary, Did You Know?" To me it's like it was written by a non-Bible reader. "Mary, did you know, that your baby boy, would one day rule the nations?" Yeah, I think Mary was paying attention to the seraphic messenger. Of course, when sung by Kenny Rogers, the Miranda warning would seem moving,
*dreams*
Walker, did you know? That you have the right to re-main very silent. Walker, did you know? Whatever you say can, yes, and WILL be used against you?
I've never heard "Gabriel's Message." The lyrics are lovely, though.
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Post by katycarl on Aug 26, 2006 16:40:38 GMT -5
My quarrel with "Mary Did You Know" lies not in its occasional inaccuracy but in its saccharine irrelevancy. At best it's an exercise in intellectual idleness ("Mary, could you see into the future before your Assumption?"), at worst a sop for overemotionalism ("Oh boo ohoo, that poor dear, getting into this with no idea of what she would end up feeling about it, her only baby getting crucified and all..." ) No, thank you. The Mother of our Savior deserves a little more credit than that. Nor, if I remember rightly (and correct me if I don't), is the divinity of Christ ever once mentioned in the song. Of course we marvel equally at His incarnation, but that's the key word: equally. </rant> .... *chuckles at the twangy rendition of Walker's rights being read*
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Post by walker on Aug 27, 2006 0:23:14 GMT -5
Yes, there are 3 references to His divinity as "Lord" "the face of God" and "the great I AM." What just occured to me, though, is that "Mary Did You Know" is no carol at all: in fact, it may be an anti-carol.
Good carols begin with praise words like "O!" "Joy!" and "Hark!" They are hymns of joy. Not that some good carols aren't narrative in scope, and here I'm thinking of drummer boys and three kings. This particular song, though, however rhetorically intentioned, takes a Christmas participator to task, in a way, for ignorance.
I'm still suspicious. What do I know, though? My mom gets choked up whenever she hears it.
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Post by Frank on Aug 27, 2006 0:59:45 GMT -5
That reminds me: add "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and Handel's "For Unto Us a Child is Born" to my list.
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ace86
New Member
Posts: 4
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Post by ace86 on Aug 30, 2006 15:31:43 GMT -5
My very favorite has got to be Hark the Herald Angels Sing. That is such a great hymn for a Christmas processional at the beginning of Mass! Absolutely beautiful and majestic!
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