The joys of Christmas hymns, songs and carols
IT IS almost impossible to envisage any kind of social event taking place without being accompanied by some form of music. Music associated with Christmas celebrations is no exception. It comes in various styles, genres and languages and has the unique characteristic of recurring annually at Christmas and not being heard at any other time during the year. This allows it to retain an air of ‘freshness’ and originality that other music does not normally enjoy. The fact that some Christmas songs have been known to enter record charts in more than one year validates this point.
Christmas hymns were perhaps the earliest way of singing praises for the coming of Christ, sung mainly in church. O Come, All Ye Faithful may be one of the most popular and is surely the most frequently sung in Christian churches during the season. It contains lyrics that are particularly relevant to the festive time of year:
“O come, all ye faithful Joyful and triumphant!
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold him, born the King of angels.
Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”
The hymn, sometimes referred to as a carol, originally appeared in the Latin language under the title Adeste Fideles in 1751, but was translated to English by Reverend Frederick Oakley in 1841. Thereafter it spread rapidly.
Hark! The Herald-Angels Sing, written by Charles Wesley in 1739, may be the next most popular hymn sung at Christmas. The lyrics say: “Glory to the newborn King Peace, on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled.”
Other church hymns that are regularly sung at Christmas are While Shepherds Watched Their Flock By Night, Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem, The Hallelujah Chorus, Joy To The World, and Go Tell It On The Mountain – an African-American spiritual song written by John Wesley in 1879, which announced the saviour’s arrival with the lyrics: “Go tell it on the mountain Over the hills and everywhere That Jesus Christ is born. He comes from the glorious kingdom.”
Some of the more popular Christmas carols are The First Noel, Jingle Bells, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Deck the Halls, I Saw Three Ships, A Cradle in Bethlehem, Carol of the Bells, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Joy to the World and The Twelve Days of
Christmas. These had a more secular flavour, and depicted a high level of religious joy, having become favourites not only in churches, but at Christmas concerts and festive events. Yet, after all is said and done, Christmas hymns and Christmas carols are oftentimes used interchangeably with reference to some Christmas songs.
NOVELTY SONGS
Alongside Christmas hymns and carols, there also appeared another set of Christmas songs, referred to as novelty songs, which were designed primarily for children. They were mainly musical parodies with chipmunk-like sounds, and were designed for general comic effect. Perhaps the earliest of such songs was All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth by Spike Jones and the City Slickers in 1948. Four years later, 13-year- old Jimmy Boyd released I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, and in 1958, Alvin and the Chipmunks recorded The Chipmunk Song. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer, a 1939 Johnny Marks composition, was recorded by both Bing Crosby and Gene Autry in the 1940s. The latter recording hit number one on the US charts in Christmas week of 1949. Thirty years later, Elmo and Patsy recorded Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.
A Monster’s Holiday remains a big favourite among children at Christmas.
Christmas songs appeared in popular music during the 1940s. Bing Crosby’s White
Christmas created history when, after entering the US charts in 1942, re-entered the charts every Christmas for 21 consecutive years thereafter. It still is the biggest-selling single of all time, with estimated sales of 50 million copies. Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire), recorded in 1945, was also a big seller at the time.
Other popular (secular) Christmas songs are Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives in 1965; Jingle Bell Rock by
Robin Holmes in 1967, Rocking Around The Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee, Little Drummer Boy by The Harry Simeone Chorale, What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas by The Emotions,
Gee Wiz It’s Christmas by
Carla Thomas, and You’re All I Want For Christmas by Brook Benton – the latter two in 1963.
With the disco era in the mid-1970s, Christmas songs became more danceable, with the Salsoul Orchestra releasing the album Christmas Jollies, which stayed on the US charts for six weeks in 1976 and seven weeks in 1977. Luther Vandross’ May Christmas Bring You Happiness (1976) and Bony M’s Mary’s Boy
Child (1978) were, and still are, big draws at any Christmas session.
Earlier Gladys Knight and Johnny Mathis had the slow piece When A Child Is Born, while Harry Belafonte’s release of Mary’s Boy Child in 1957 climbed to No. 1 on the British charts and stayed there for seven weeks.
The Jamaican scene also experienced its fair share of popular Christmas songs. Some of the earliest and most enduring ones were, Home T4’s Let The Christmas Catch You In A Good Mood, Carlene
Davis’ Santa Claus, Do You Ever Come To The Ghetto, Faith D’Aguilar’s Santa Ketch Up Inna Mango Tree, Alton Ellis’ Christmas Coming,
Neville Willoughby’s
Christmas Ja and Boris
Gardiner’s The Meaning Of Christmas.