Album: Christmas Carols Old & New Archives

Category: Album: Christmas Carols Old & New

Lyrics from the album “Christmas Carols Old & New”

Ave Maria

Special thanks to Andy Williams for making this song sound so easy to sing that I dared make the attempt. It was a humbling experience, believe me.

Latin Lyrics:
Ave Maria, gratia plena. Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus, fructus ventris tui Jesus. Sancta Maria, sancta Maria, Maria, ora pro nobis, nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora, in hora mortis nostrae. Amen. Amen.

English Lyrics: Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Amen.

Chords: Prelude #1 in C Major from The Well Tempered Clavier,
written sometime between 1722 and 1732 by J. S. Bach.
Melody: Charles Gounod, 1852.

Silent Night
The words to this timeless classic were written by Father Joseph Mohr, a priest in the town of Obernorf, in the Austrian Alps. Father Mohr’s organist, Franz Grueber, wrote the music.

It is said that Mohr and Grueber aspired to write the ‘perfect’ Christmas song, and they seem to have hit the mark. They wrote this sublime carol for a Christmas Eve mass in 1818 and performed it to the accompaniment of Grueber’s guitar.

I wish I could go back to that time and place and listen to that very first performance.
```
Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright.
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.
```
```
Silent night, holy night, shepherds quake at the sight,
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing alleluia;
Christ the Saviour is born! Christ, the Saviour is born!
```
```
Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love’s pure light, Radiant beams from thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord at thy birth, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
```
Words: Joseph Mohr.
Music: Franz Grueber, 1818.

Oh Holy Night

This song was not well received by the religious ‘authorities’ of the mid-nineteenth century. One French bishop found it lacking in both musical taste and the spirit of religion. Go figure.

Oh holy night, the stars are brightly shining.
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the word in sin and error pining,
’til He appeared 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, oh night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With hearts aglow by His cradle we stand.
Drawn by star, its light so sweetly gleaming,
The wise men come from a far eastern land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our friend.

Fall on your knees, oh hear the angels voices! Oh night divine, oh night when Christ was born. Oh night divine, oh night, oh night divine!

Music: Adolphe Charles Adam.
Words: Chappeau de Roquemaure, 1847.
Translated by John S. Dwight.

I first heard Pierce Pettis perform Miriam around 1992 and was stunned by the song’s poignant beauty and unabashed tenderness. Years later, I could still sing much of the song to myself, and the parts I couldn’t remember demanded recollection. So naturally, Miriam was at the top of my list when I decided to make this record.

You must hear Pierce’s haunting performance of this song, produced masterfully by David Miner. It’s on Pierce’s CD, Making Light of It, on Compass Records.

In case you were wondering, Miriam is the Hebrew form of Mary.

No banners were unfurled, when God stepped into the world,
Held in the arms of a little girl named Miriam.

Who would ever believe, the fiancée, the family,
The teenage pregnancy of Miriam?

But laws of nature were suspended, death sentences rescinded,
Throughout all the world, all because of a little girl named Miriam.

Medieval paintings glaring down, stony figures judge and frown,
Wearing a halo like a crown. Could that be Miriam?

Gentile temples’ stained glass swirls, cherubim with golden curls.
Oh! How unlike your Hebrew world, Miriam.

I don’t know if you ascended. I don’t care what’s been amended.
There was one sure miracle: the faith of a little girl named Miriam.

Oh, you are blessed indeed! Blessed is the fruit of your tree,
Yeshua, king of kings, and son of Miriam.

No banners were unfurled when God stepped into the world,
Held in the arms of a little girl named Miriam.

Words and music by Pierce Pettis, 1996.

O Come All Ye Faithful

Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
Oh come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold him, born the King of angels,
Oh come let us adore Him, oh come let us adore Him,
Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Sing choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
Sing all ye citizens of Heaven above.
Glory to God in the highest!
Oh come let us adore Him, oh come let us adore Him,
Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Yea Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning.
Jesus to thee be glory given!
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing,
Oh come let us adore Him, oh come let us adore Him,
Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Words: Adeste Fideles; unknown early 18th century French author.
First printed appearance in 1751.
Translation by Frederick Oakeley.
Music: Adeste Fideles; John Francis Wade, 1751.

I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day
When I read the words to this song to my daughter, Kate, she insisted I include it on the record. Longfellow wrote them in 1864, during the American Civil War, when it looked as though America were coming undone. Something dark, evil, and ugly threatened America’s very existence. It seemed God was absent and hatred everywhere.

Longfellow’s words are appropriate every Christmas, but I regret that in 2001 his words are fitting as perhaps never before: ‘It was as if an earthquake rent the hearth-stones of a continent…’ Sadly, these words now hit home with an impact far greater than I could have dreamed when I began work on this project.

But the closing words also hit home: “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with Peace on earth, good will to men.”.
```
I heard the bells on Christmas day, their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet, the words repeat, of peace on earth good will to men.
```
```
And thought how, as the day had come, the bellfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song of peace on earth good will to me.
```
```
Then from each black, accursed mouth the cannon thundered in the south,
And with the sound, the carols drowned of peace on earth good will to men.
```
```
It was as if an earthquake rent the hearth-stones of a continent
And made forlorn the households born of peace on earth, good will to men.
```
```
And in despair I bowed my head, “There is no peace on earth,” I said
“For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.”
```
```
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.”
```
Words: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1864.
Music: Johnny Marks, 1957.
What Child Is This?
In arranging this song, I wanted to capture something of the mystery and danger of the scene in Bethlehem where Jesus was born, as well as the tragedy that would come into the story decades later. I guess that’s why the arrangement sounds somewhat ominous in places.

The birth of Christ certainly was a mysterious event; we still don’t fully understand it. And there’s no question it was a dangerous time for everyone involved. So, I think it’s appropriate if the music reflects it.
```
What child is this who laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?
```
```
Why lies he in such mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian fear, for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.
```
```
This, this is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing.
Haste! Haste to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary.
```
```
So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh, come peasant, king, to own him.
The King of Kings salvation brings, let loving hearts enthrone Him.
```
Words: William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898).
Music: Greensleeves, English traditional

Away In A Manger

I believe this was the first song I sang as a solo in public. It was at a Christmas Eve service at First Church of the Nazarene, Nampa, Idaho, 1964. It’s still one of my favorites.

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.
The stars in the sky look down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the poor baby wakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.
I love thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky,
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever and love me I pray!
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And take us to heaven, to live with thee there.

Words: verses 1 & 2, anonymous. Verse 3 is by John Thomas McFarland.
Music: “Mueller,” James R. Murray, 1887

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Many consider this song the first great American Christmas carol. If you think it is about Christmas only, think again, and read all the words (found in most any hymnal). I think you’ll agree that Reverend Sears was well acquainted with human suffering, and he longed in no small way for the eternal.

It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old
From angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold;
”Peace on the earth, good will to men, from heaven’s all gracious king.“
The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long
Beneath the heavenly strain have rolled two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not the tidings which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing!

O ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow,
Look now, for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing;
O rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing!

Words by Rev. Edmund Hamilton Sears, music by Richard Storrs Willis, 1849

The World Was In His Hands

The seemingly fragile and ordinary mortality of the infant Jesus has always gripped my imagination. Really, it has haunted me. What was it like to stand there, alongside the shepherds, and gaze at this tiny child who would change the world more profoundly than any other individual in history? Did anyone, other than his parents, have any idea at all who he really was?

In your mind’s eye, examine him closely: The tiny fingers and toes, the smooth forehead, the pale, soft feet, almost too small to be real. Is there anything about him that hints at the power he will one day bring to bear on the wind and waves of Galilee? Look directly into his eyes. Do you see any clue to the great mystery we call “the incarnation”?

In Bethlehem, one winter night a child was born by candle light And he looked like any other child in his mother’s arms. Nothing about him told that a mystery would soon unfold.

To see him there, so small and sweet, with tiny hands and tender feet What if you were told this child would hold the world within his hands? You wouldn’t see the slightest trace of sorrow on his moonlit face And it wouldn’t seem, no, you’d never dream that the world was in his hands.

The secrets of that Christmas day, the very stars would soon betray
When their light shone down on the sleeping towns of Palestine.
Shepherds would find the one the angels had said would come.

To see him there, so small and sweet, with tiny hands and tender feet
What if you were told this child would hold the world within his hands?
You wouldn’t see the slightest trace of sorrow on his moonlit face
And it wouldn’t seem, no, you’d never dream that the world was in his hands.

Who could have known it? Was it written in the starlit sky?
Who could have heard God’s name in the strains of Mary’s lullaby?

To see him there, so small and sweet, with tiny hands and tender feet
What if you were told this child would hold the world within his hands?
You wouldn’t see the slightest trace of sorrow on his moonlit face
Yet his tears would fall to heal the earth, His wounds would give us second birth.
Still, it wouldn’t seem, no, you’d never dream that the world was in his hands.

The First Nowell

Nowell is an early English spelling of noel, which itself is an even older French word meaning ‘carol.’

This song, though, is thoroughly British and was probably at least 200 years old by the time it was published, but no one knows for sure.

The shepherds did not see the star in the East, as the words would have you believe, but that’s okay; there’s such a charm to this simple song that we can easily forgive the error.

The first Nowell, the angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay
In fields as they lay keeping their sheep
On a cold winter night that was so deep.
Nowell, nowell, nowell, nowell, born is the king of Israel. And looking up, they saw a great star, high in the East, beyond them far, and to the earth, it gave a great light, shining from Heaven both day and night. Nowell, nowell, nowell, nowell, born is the king of Israel.

Nowell, nowell, nowell, nowell
Born is the king of Israel.

And looking up, they saw a great star
High in the East, beyond them far
And to the earth, it gave a great light
Shining from Heaven both day and night.

Traditional English carol
Collected in William Sandys’, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, 1833