I love the music of Christmas. I could play it all year long if I weren’t married to someone who isn’t as crazy about it as I am. Those songs are so uplifting and beautiful that they make me feel good just to hear them, and you can’t help but sing along with them.
My dad always loved Christmas, and was a great practical jokester. He delighted in making phone calls to his grandchildren, pretending to be Santa. He’d call back later on for a rundown about what happened on our end—the looks, the comments, and the joy of getting a real live phone call from Santa!
One of the traditions in our house was the box of chocolate covered cherries that was always under the tree for him from my mom, a reminder of hard Christmases in years past when that might have been the only gift she could afford. Another was that our house was always filled with Christmas music.
I was a classically trained pianist from the time I turned seven years old. My father’s favorite Christmas carol was What Child Is This? Once I mastered it, I delighted in playing it for him because he took such pleasure in it, and since it was also the tune to another song, Greensleeves, I played it all year round for him. My love for playing the piano was one of the reasons I enjoyed writing my story NOELLE’S CHRISTMAS WISH for our Christmas Stocking Sweethearts series so much. Of course, her favorite Christmas song was The First Noel, for obvious reasons.
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The tune known as Greensleeves was a British drinking song for many years, a popular folk song that was not religious. In ancient Britain, there have been more than twenty different known lyrics associated with the tune throughout history. It was first published in 1652.
Shakespeare mentions it by name in “The Merry Wives of Windsor” in which it is played while traitors are hanged. It has been attributed to King Henry VIII, and said that he wrote it for Anne Boleyn. How did this song become one of the best-loved Christmas carols of all time?
In 1865, Englishman William Chatterton Dix wrote “The Manger Throne,” three verses of which became “What Child Is This?” During that particular era, Christmas was not as openly celebrated as it is today. Many conservative Puritan churches forbade gift-giving, decorating or even acknowledging the day as a special day for fear that Christmas would become a day of pagan rituals more than a serious time of worship. Although Dix wrote other hymns, in the context of the times, it was unusual for him to write about Christ’s birth, since many hymn writers and religious factions ignored Christmas completely.
The words represent a unique view of Christ’s birth. While the baby was the focal point of the song, the point of view of the writer seemed to be that of a confused observer. Dix imagined the visitors to the manger bed wondering about the child who had just been born. In each verse, he described the child’s birth, life, death and resurrection, answering the question with a triumphant declaration of the infant’s divinity.
“The Manger Throne” was published in England just as the U.S. Civil War was ending. The song quickly made its way from Britain to the United States. Dix died in 1898, living long enough to see “The Manger Throne” become the Christmas carol “What Child Is This?”
Credit to Wikipedia Article for much of this information.
And here are THE PETERSENS singing WHAT CHILD IS THIS? (Lovely harmonies!)
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CHRISTMAS CAROL OR SONG? Mine is SILENT NIGHT, but gosh, to me they are all so beautiful. I can’t think of one I don’t like! Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of your choice of NOELLE’S CHRISTMAS WISH or THE DEVIL AND MISS JULIA JACKSON!
My favorite carol used to be “What Child Is This.” But now it’s “Mary, Did You Know,” “What Child Is This,” and “Silent Night,” in that order. As you said, there are so many beautiful ones.
Janice, my favorite one when I was younger was “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”. In my teens, I loved Harry Belafonte’s rendition of Mary’s Boy Child, and Robert Goulet’s “Do You Hear What I Hear?” It is really hard to pick just one! LOL!
I sing with our church’s Traditional Choir and love singing “Lo How a Rose Ere Blooming” with them.
Mary, that is always such a beautiful song when sung by a choir, with all the harmonies and different parts coming together. I love that one, too!
I really don’t have any love them all. Out of the newer ones I would say. One Wintry Night, Rose of Bethlehem, Bethlehem Morning, Joy and What a Strange Way to Save the World. My dad always liked Christmas too. They were never the same after he went home to heaven.
Sharon, some of the ones you mentioned, I’m not familiar with! YAY–something new to go look up on YOUTUBE! Thanks for mentioning those!
I feel the same about Christmas now, too, now that my parents are gone, especially my dad. That was one holiday he really loved so much. After my parents died, my sister never set up a Christmas tree again. It has been 18 years now–they passed within 3 weeks of one another, and it was during the Christmas season.
I always “do” Christmas because I know that Dad would have not ever wanted us to stop celebrating and enjoying the holidays together. I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas holiday, and keep joyous memories of your dad close in your heart at this time, as I will be doing with my dad.
For me,it would be Away in a Manger. #2 would be Mary, Did you Know.
Ann, I love Away in a Manger, too. And Mary, Did You Know is also a wonderful song–love to hear a chorus sing that one with all the different harmonies.
My favorite Christmas song has always been What Child is This. O Holy Night always reminds me of my Mom. I can still hear her sing it, it was one of the last songs we sang together before she passed.
Danielle, my mom loved O Holy Night, too. Only a few weeks before she passed away, my sister and I were playing duets on the piano at Christmas, and Mom was in her wheelchair nearby. She had been non-verbal for several months due to progression of her dementia. We began playing O Holy Night, and she started humming. She’d always had such a beautiful voice and loved to sing. She was not singing the words, but she had the tune perfectly pitched, and Karen and I both just sat there playing, crying our eyes out. That was a very bittersweet memory, for sure, but that was the last song I ever heard her sing before she passed away, as with your mom and you.
I’m so glad you stopped by today! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!
O Holy Night
That is such a beautiful song, Kate. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to write a song so enduring and beautiful as that–a song that would last for hundreds of years and be sung and loved by so many.
I love all Christmas songs, but the first one that popped into my mind is Joy To The World.
BTW: My Dad LOVED chocolate covered cherries too! I gifted him a box every year for Christmas, even when he was serving in Nam my senior year of high school.
Karin, isn’t that song wonderful? It just BURSTS with JOY as the title proclaims! And I always feel better after I sing it!
What a sweet memory about the chocolate covered cherries! Those must have been SUCH a sensation when they first came out, don’t you imagine? I can only imagine his face when he opened that box of those over in Nam. I’m sure he was almost in tears to see such thoughtfulness and a wealth of memories all in one package that he opened!
Have a wonderful Christmas, Karin!
I like all Christmas songs, but my favorites would include O Holy Night and Angels We Have Heard on High.
Karijean, I love Angels We Have Heard on High, too, but especially loved to play it on the piano–I had a really good arrangement for it and it was fun to play. I need to find that! LOL
Have a great Christmas!
O Holy Night is one of my favorites.
Quilt Lady, that seems to be a favorite of a lot of people and I can see why, because I love it, too. It’s one of those songs that really speaks to the soul.
Mary Did you know – awesome song – as a Mom, couldn’t ever imagine her feelings at any time!
Teresa, yes, that is a really lovely, thoughtful song! And as you say, as a mom, I couldn’t ever imagine her feelings either. That had to be so hard, all the way through her life.
I love some many of the songs, but It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and O Holy Night are always my favorites.
Two of my favorites, too, Debra! And I love that there are so many arrangements and versions of all these songs available in today’s world!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
My favorite Christmas Carol is Joy to the World. My father also used to buy me a box of chocolate covered cherries, even after I was married. After he passed, my husband or children used to get them for me.
Elaine, those chocolate covered cherries are such a memory-maker for so many of us, aren’t they? I still buy them every year in memory of my dad–I LOVE THEM TOO! LOL I did find out that you can actually freeze those and keep them to eat in July if you want…(My birthday is in July, so that was a great discovery.) LOL
Have a very Merry Christmas!
silent night
My favorite, too. That one always gives me a feeling of calm peacefulness.
“Oh Holy Night was one I had to learn for a grade school program, back in the day. More currently, it is “Mary, Did you know”. I could listen to it again and again. It brings on the tears when you have the mindset of a mother and envision you being JESUS mother. So beautiful.
“O Holy Night” is a favorite for so many, including me! There are so many wonderful versions of that song and all so uplifting. Yes, “Mary, Did You Know” is one that really touches the heartstrings, especially as you say, looking at it as a mom and thinking of it that way. That would be very hard to come to grips with.
Have a wonderful Christmas!
For hymns, Silent Night and O Holy Night. For classics, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.
Denise, I love every one of those songs. I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday this year!
Merry Christmas!
Thank you, Denise!
I like you think all Christmas hymns are beautiful but Away in Manager is a favorite that stands out.
Yes, Patti, I agree with you. All the hymns have a special place in my heart, too, just for the memories and nostalgia. Away in a Manger is one of my favorites, too!
I like Joy To The World by Faith Hill, Little Drummer Boy, by 4 King and Country, among others.
I like Faith Hill’s rendition of Joy to the World too, and I will go look up The Little Drummer Boy by 4 King and Country–haven’t heard their version of it, but that is one of my favorite songs, too! Merry Christmas, Bridgette!
Star of the East – O Bethlehem Star was a duet my parents sang together at Christmastime. It warms my heart. But, my favorite is O Holy Night. I enjoy playing it on the piano or singing it. Silent Night is also a favorite. Our church uses contemporary versions of everything – and sometimes I wish they would quit changing up Christmas carols. Ha! I like the traditional version of them. Merry Christmas Cheryl.
Kathy, I’m with you! I love the old traditional carols, and another that comes to mind is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”, which is unusual, and has a very interesting backstory to it, but I just love the tune and the words. I’d forgotten about Star of the East–that is a beautiful one, too. How neat that your parents sang together! Gary and I used to have our own band back in the 70’s and we performed a LOT until the mid-80’s when I had my daughter–then it all ended. LOL I wish we had some recordings of when we used to sing together.
Have a wonderful Christmas, Kathy!
For years my favorite song was The Little Drummer Boy but now I think my favorite is Mary, Did You Know?
Rhonda, “back in the day” my dad used to buy the Firestone albums for Christmas they put out every year, with a variety of artists and Christmas music. Those albums were wonderful because of the variety and the quality of the performances. There was a rendition of The Little Drummer Boy by the Harry Simeone Chorus and it was so pretty! I wish I still had those albums–I got a turntable from a dear friend a couple of years ago and I’d love to be able to play those again!
Merry Christmas!
Cheryl,
A sweet and funny tribute about your dad playing Santy Claus for his grandkids. Any Christmas song from church makes me feel emotional and I especially like O Holy Night.
Rachel, my dad really did love that kind of thing, and it sure made it special for the kids, too.
Yes, I agree with you–any Christmas song from church really is an emotional experience, just being a part of a group, everyone singing and being there in fellowship and worship. I definitely have been known to shed some tears!
Hope you have a wonderful holiday this year!
I favorites are Silent Night, Joy to the World, and Go Tell it on the Mountain. However, I enjoy all of the Christmas hymns! I also like Buck Owen’s Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (it’s so catchy!!), Crowder’s The Elf Song, and Crowder’s The Ballad of Mrs. C. (she hates the beard). Plus more of the secular songs, too!
Hi Trudy! I’m so glad you mentioned “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”! The little girl who sang that was only 10 years old and she was from OKLAHOMA CITY! What a star! They set up a fund–seems like school kids contributed to it, and bought a hippopotamus for the OK City zoo. OH, WAIT. Here it is on WIKIPEDIA–I won’t post the entire article but here’s part of it.
“I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” is a Christmas novelty song written by John Rox[a] and performed by 10-year-old Gayla Peevey in 1953. The song peaked at number 24 on Billboard magazine’s pop chart in December 1953.[8]
History
“I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” was released by Columbia Records, with the B-side of the original record featuring “Are My Ears on Straight?”.[9] Upon its national release, the song shot to the top of the charts. Peevey performed the song on the November 13, 1953 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show, which had been recorded earlier in October.[citation needed]
A popular legend holds that the 1953 hit had been recorded as a fundraiser to bring the city zoo a hippo, but in a 2007 radio interview with Detroit-based WNIC radio station, Peevey clarified that the song was not originally recorded as a fundraiser.[10] Instead, the Oklahoma City Zoo (located in Peevey’s birthplace of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)[11] and a local newspaper, picking up on the popularity of the song and Peevey’s local roots, launched the Gayla Peevey hippo fund so Peevey could be presented with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas.[12] The campaign succeeded, and Peevey was presented with an actual hippopotamus, which—as had been planned all along—she donated to the city zoo.[12] The hippopotamus, named Mathilda,[13]lived for nearly 50 years.[10] In 2017, Peevey, then 73 years old, was again present when the Oklahoma City Zoo acquired a rare pygmy hippopotamus from the San Diego Zoo.[12][14]
So it was always one of my favorite songs, too, since she was from my home state and only a few years older than I was!
Remember “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”? Ha! Another funny contemporary song.
Thanks so much for stopping by today! You mentioned a lot of Christmas songs I had not thought about in a while! Hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday!
My favorite is Silent Night. I also love What Child is This and Oh, Holy Night. Thank you for the opportunity. God bless you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Hi Debra! Those are all big favorites of mine, too. I have always loved Silent Night because it gives me such a feeling of peace–the words, the tune, everything about it just speaks of love.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, Debra!
Cheryl, my favorite hymn is Mary, Did You Know? and I cry every time I hear it. I picture her sobbing at seeing her son hanging there on the cross and then at his tomb. I can only imagine her heartbreak and how crushed I would be to see my son so tormented and in agony. Love you, Sister Filly. I hope you have a blessed Christmas.
Linda, I totally agree with you. How could a mother bear that? I don’t know. That would be the greatest anguish any mother could go through. Makes me think of that other song–another Harry Belafonte song–“Take My Mother Home”…
I’m so glad you stopped in today, Linda. You and yours have a very Merry Christmas, too, and enjoy the Christmas season to the fullest! Love you right back! Take care and let’s catch up soon!
It is so hard to pick a favorite Christmas song, I love them all. Away in a Manger is one of them that I love. I also love Mary Did You Know and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
I love your book, have read all the Christmas Stocking Sweethearts series, and really enjoyed them. Wish there were more. Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy and Merry Christmas.
PS We always had a box of chocolate covered cherries under the tree also.
Sarah, I am sitting here smiling at all the responses that mention those chocolate covered cherries, because they always MEAN SOMETHING to those families that gave them and continue to do so. Those became my favorite Christmas treat too, and I’d take my allowance and buy myself a box when they put them on the shelves. LOL Kisses were my favorite when I was little, but then I “graduated” to those chocolate covered cherries, and then…oh, those wonderful DARK chocolate covered cherries! LOLLOL
Thank you so much for the very kind words about the Christmas Stocking Sweethearts series! Those were such fun to write and bring together! I’m so glad to hear how much you loved them.
Have a beautiful Christmas season, Sarah!
Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem
Barbara, I’m not familiar with this one, so it’s off to YOUTUBE I go! Thanks for mentioning it!
Merry Christmas!
My favorite Christmas song is Christmas for Cowboys by John Denver.
How did I miss this one, Kim? I used to LOVE to listen to all things John Denver! Thanks for naming it so I can go find it!
Have a Merry Christmas!
Good morning, my favorite Christmas song is Silent Night. (I am not entering this ebook giveaway as I am not tech savvy and dont read ebook, but Thank you. Your book sounds like a Great read! Have a Great week.
Hi Alicia!
I love Silent Night too–my favorite, as I mentioned. I’m so glad you stopped by today! Have a wonderful Christmas holiday!
I love most of the season’s music, although some get overplayed… Amazing that an ancient tune can be so flexible for such a variety of lyrics. Music is celebration, commemoration, commendation, and condemnation–all things to all people. Thanks so much for sharing this history and the music itself!
P.S. the email version is lacking the link to the carol.
Hi Elissa!
I know, you are so right about some of it being overplayed. And I agree with you about music and all the things it can be to so many different people. I knew a woman once who told me she didn’t have a favorite song, never listened to music, and didn’t care a thing about it. I was shocked. I still have trouble wrapping my mind around that, since it means so much to me and always has.
So glad you stopped by and enjoyed the blog–I’m glad you told me about the missing link to the carol–not sure there’s any way to correct that. Shoot!
Merry Christmas!
I love so many…Ave Maria is a favorite.
Oh, yes, Colleen, that gives me chills. My niece got married in December and they used that at her wedding. It was so beautiful.
Merry Christmas!
Silent Night is my Favorite Christmas Song and Oh my I always remember have The Chocolate covered cherries when I was a Young girl and I Love them Merry Christmas
Sarah, I still go out and buy those chocolate covered cherries every year! LOL I still love them! My oldest sister never liked them! What in the world! LOL
Merry Christmas!
I’m not big on Christmas music like I was growing up. I think it’s all the “new” versions of the traditional songs that todays singers feel they must do. I like the originals. I think this year my favorite is White Christmas because I can’t get the song out of my head. lol
Carrie, I AGREE WITH YOU! I love the old standards and White Christmas can be sung by no one but Bing Crosby! LOL Hearing the old versions is familiar and peaceful and comforting to us, and I don’t mind hearing a new song or a new version once in a while, but I like the oldies.
Have a wonderful Christmas!
My favorite is Oh holy Night. I like all of them.,
Linda, I like them all too! It’s hard to pick a favorite!
Merry Christmas!
There are so many favorites. When I think of one, another one comes to mind. One I haven’t seen mentioned is Oh, Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel. One of my fondest memories of it is the year we used it as the opening processional for our church Christmas program. The older kids held fir branches forming an arch for the little ones to enter through as the congregation sang it.
Our youngest daughter and I are the chocolate covered cherry eaters in our family. She brought a box of dark chocolate ones for Thanksgiving and I still need to buy one for Christmas.
I love that one too, Alice. It’s so unusual. Another one I failed to mention that I really love is Carol of the Bells–I have a really pretty version of that I used to play on the piano, and Pat-a-Pan was another one. I need to go dig all those Christmas books out and just sit and play for a while! LOL
Yes, always keep that chocolate covered cherry tradition alive and well!
Have a wonderful holiday!
Silent Night is my favorite also.
I truly do just love that song for so many reasons, but especially for the peace and calm it brings me.
Have a wonderful Christmas, Connie!
I really love “Mary, did you know?”, and “God resr ye merry Gentlemen”.
Both good ones, Megan! But…IS there a “bad” one? Probably my least favorite one is The Twelve Days of Christmas because it just goes on forever, but it’s fun for kids to learn. LOL
Thanks for stopping by today, and have a very joyous holiday!
I love Christmas music! I start on my birthday in November haha. My favorite is I’m dreaming of a white Christmas by Bing. My favorite carol would be Emmanuel!
Cori, you know there are certain songs that no one can do as well as the original artist and White Christmas is one of those. I really don’t want to hear anyone else but Bing Crosby sing it! (I feel that way about Unchained Melody–only the Righteous Brothers version will do!) LOL
Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Hi! l, love all Christmas music also. My, favorite Christmas song, is “Oh Holy Night”
Enjoy your books. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone & all the P&P filles and staff
Lois, thanks so much for stopping by, and for your very kind words! Our readers are the heart of our group and we appreciate each and every single one of you! I love O Holy Night, too–that’s a hard one to sing and do well, but when it’s done right, it’s really beautiful, isn’t it? I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
My favorites are Carol Of The Bells and Mary Did You Know. The second is rather melancholy but lovely. I like the version by the Pentatonix.
Oh, Patricia, I love that Pentatonix version, too! I remember when they were first getting started–I thought they were so unusual (and still do!) I have a good friend who never misses them when they are nearby in concert somewhere. They really have something special!