41–49 of 49 posts
> Is it the greatest Christmas song ever? I’m a church organist inter alia and I doubt any of my fellows would say it was. O Come All Ye Faithful? Certainly. Hark the Herald? Could be. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen with that spine-tingling David Willcocks last verse? Perhaps. But sweet, saccharine Silent Night? It wouldn’t be on the list.
Oh Holy Night, when done very well. But it suffers more than most when the performance is just mediocre.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nice choices! IMO the best Christmas songs have a mix of joy and something.. else. Something a little eerie. Not quite foreboding , exactly, but definitely a bit tense. From a certain perspective, maybe this is theologically correct to have a mix of "Yay Jesus is coming!" and also at the same time "Oh shit, he's coming here?!? " For those from other faith traditions, imagine you hear that your CEO is finally going to…
Agreed! My favorite Christmas carols are the ones that aren't just marking a jolly merry festival, but have that "foreboding" melancholy potency you describe. I think G. K. Chesteron did a good job of capturing the sense of it, in his "The Everlasting Man" [0]: >Christmas for us in Christendom has become one thing, and in one sense even a simple thing. But like all the truths of that tradition, it is in another sense…
Funny how these old tunes are sung by our 3 year olds. I wonder how old ring a roses is now.
Funny how these old tunes are sung by our 3 year olds. I wonder how old ring a roses is now.
Interesting example to pick! It apparently has roots in the black plague, and probably existed in close to it's current form since the late 18th century. https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_a_Ring_o%27_Roses
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/07/ring-around-the-rosie...
I am not a Christian, never was, but I can't listen to Silent Night without tears coming to my eyes. May there be peace on earth for all beings.
> Is it the greatest Christmas song ever? I’m a church organist inter alia and I doubt any of my fellows would say it was. O Come All Ye Faithful? Certainly. Hark the Herald? Could be. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen with that spine-tingling David Willcocks last verse? Perhaps. But sweet, saccharine Silent Night? It wouldn’t be on the list.
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht has always been the ultimate song at the end of the Christmas service in my church, after the benediction.
And, the best part when I was a child, the sun on the side of the organ would spin at the last verse. It would only do so on that occasion, once a year.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nice choices! IMO the best Christmas songs have a mix of joy and something.. else. Something a little eerie. Not quite foreboding , exactly, but definitely a bit tense. From a certain perspective, maybe this is theologically correct to have a mix of "Yay Jesus is coming!" and also at the same time "Oh shit, he's coming here?!? " For those from other faith traditions, imagine you hear that your CEO is finally going to…
To outsiders, Christianity can seem downright Lovecraftian in the terror it inspires. Ever see Evangelion ?