Сhristmas Song Lyrics
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“Ave Maria.” Franz Schubert popularized this beautiful piece, often sung by an operatic soprano or tenor, as part of “Hymn to the Virgin.” The Latin prayer, originating the 11th century, is a plea to Mary. The Latin phrase, “Ave Maria, gratia plena,” translates to “Hail Mary, full of grace.”
“Angels We Have Heard on High.” A three-verse French carol that also borrows from the Latin “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” for its refrain, which means “Glory to God in the highest.” This refrain is probably one of the oldest and best known Christmas song lyrics, for its usage dates back to early Roman bishops’services.
“Away in a Manger.” This is a combination of an old German folk song, an old Scottish song, and some newer 19th century American lyrics. The German folk song was known primarily as the lullabye “The Cradle Song”: “and stay by my side until morning is nigh.”
It was later adapted by James. R. Murrary as the “Luther’s Cradle Hymn,” sung to children attending Martin Luther’s Sunday school and came to symbolize the night of birth of Jesus.
“Joy to the World.” Issac Watts, a 17th century hymnist, translated the Bible’s Psalm 98 to form the Christmas song lyrics for this carol. The melody’s origins have been disputed for a number of years. Many historians think Handel wrote it, while other think it more likely that that composer Lowell Mason put the song together in the mid-1800s.
“O Christmas Tree/O Tannebaum.” Many cultures and faiths celebrate life by using some form of the evergreen tree, including the Chinese and ancient Eygptians, so it isn’t just a Christian custom. There are more than 10 versions of this tune, both spiritual and secular, including four verses of a German folk song that many believe originated in the Middle Ages and is the most popular version sung today.
“O Come, All Ye Faithful.” Also known as “Adeste Fideles,” many consider this to be an ancient Latin hymn or a Portuguese folk tune. However, it was composed by English Catholic John Francis Wade in 1742, a man who made his living selling copies of chants and music. It’s been translated twice – once by Frederick Oakeley and again into today’s more common version by William Thomas Brooke..
“O Holy Night.” What started as a poem called “Midnight, Christians” written by French winemaker Placide Cappeau, has become one of the most beloved combinations of Christmas song lyrics and melody in the history of this music category. The melody was composed by the legendary Adolphe Adam, famed composer of the ballet Giselle.
When Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight translated the song into English in 1855, he took a bit of liberty to express his Abolitionist views during the American struggle with slavery. The lines he added were:
“Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.”
Secular
“Auld Lang Syne.” The title of this Scottish song means “old long ago.” The tune is often attributed to famed Scottish poet Robert Burns, but that notion is only partly true. Burns found the ballad and finished it off, as it were, into the version we know today.
Famously sung around the tree in finale of the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, the song has come to represent the acknowledgment of friendship and memories. The World Burns Club (http://www.worldburnsclub.com/newsl..._what_about.htm) offers more information.
“Carol of the Bells.” The melody for this popular holiday carol is based on the Ukrainian folk song, “Shchedryk.” Often sung shortly after the first of the year, "Shchedryk" doesn’t have Christmas song lyrics at all. The original words heralded good winter tidings but spoke more of a man’s good fortune and the coming of spring. But in the early 1930s, Peter Wilhousky, an American choir director, heard another choir sing “Shchedryk” and decided to adapt it for a holiday production because he thought the melody sounded like chiming bells.
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” This song comes from the 1943 movie Meet Me In St. Louis starring Judy Garland. The verse we know today as “through the years, we all will be together, if the Fates allow” was originally “If the Lord allows,” but Garland asked writers Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane to change it in order to appeal to more people. She also thought the song too sad, and wanted it to be more hopeful. At first, the composers refused to change the song at all but then relented.
Even now, different singers perform it in their own way, the most popular versions by James Taylor and Frank Sinatra.
“Jingle Bells.” Composer James Pierpont originally titled this tune “One Horse Open Sleigh” and wrote it for, of all things, a church’s Thanksgiving program.
Over the years, the lyrics have changed slightly and there have been many parodies, including a popular version among children that starts “Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg….” There is little documentation as to how this stylistic change became so widely-known. And other musicians take liberties with the lyrics also. As just one of many examples, rockabilly star Brian Setzer changed the line “one horse open sleigh” to “‘57 Chevrolet.”
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The dream of Montgomery Ward ad copywriter Robert May, it was his brother-in-law Johnny Marks who developed the song lyrics and melody we all know. While many believe the 1964 cartoon popularized the lyrics, Rudolph actually burst onto the holiday scene in 1939, and the song, sung by Gene Autry, was composed in 1949.
The habit of doing the “response” lyrics at the end of certain lines:
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (reindeer)
Had a very shiny nose (like a lightbulb),”
is an American staple when singing the song. It’s hard to determine when that practice first started, but many alternate lyrics, both childlike and more racy, exist today.