O Holy Night

The French and German forces were facing off during the Franco-Prussian War. The fighting was fierce, when a lone French soldier jumped out of his trench, unarmed. Both sides stared, astonished, as the soldier started to sing:

     "Minuit, chrétiens, c'est l'heure solonelle 
     Où l'Homme Dieu descendit jusqu'à nous
     Pour effacer la tache originelle
     Et de Son Père arrêter le courroux.
     Le monde entier tressaille d'espérance
     En cette nuit qui lui donne un Sauveur
     Peuple à genoux, attends ta délivrance.
     Noël, Noël, voici le Rédempteur
     Noël, Noël, voici le Rédempteur."

     ("Midnight, Christians, is the solemn hour
     When the God descends on us as a man
     To erase the original stain (sin)
     And to stop His Father's wrath.
     The whole earth trembles (or thrills) with hope
     In this night which gives them a Savior
     People on your knees, wait for your deliverance.
     Christmas, Christmas, here is your Redeemer
     Christmas, Christmas, here is your Redeemer")

The Frenchman continued on to sing all three verses of Cantique de Noël (French for "Christmas Song", not to be confused with The Christmas Song)

When he was finished, a German infantryman came out of hiding and began to sing Martin Luther's words:

     „Vom Himmel hoch, da komm’ ich her.

     Ich bring’ euch gute neue Mär,

     Der guten Mär bring’ ich so viel,

     Davon ich sing’n und sagen will.“ 

     (More or less, "From heaven above, I come forth.

     I bring you good news,

     Of that good news I bring,

     I want to tell it in song.")

Thus began a 24-hour period of peace between the sides, starting that Christmas Eve in 1871.

Back up 24 years to 1847. A parish priest in a small French town needed a poem for his Christmas mass, and he turned to a local poet named Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure. Not a churchgoing man himself, Mr. Cappeau felt honored nevertheless, and used the Gospel of Luke as his inspiration to write a poem while on a trip by coach to Paris. He tried to imagine what it would be like to be in Bethlehem over 1800 years earlier, witnessing the birth of Jesus.

When he finished his poem, Cappeau realized that a poem was not enough. This needed to be set to music. So he turned to his friend Adolphe Charles Adams, a man of Jewish descent. This was particularly awkward for Adams, since, as a Jew, he didn't even celebrate Christmas, nor did he believe that Jesus was the Son of God. However, he humored his friend and set the poem to music. I have to say he did an excellent job of it.

The song was initially popular in France. However, as it declined in popularity, an American writer by the name of John Sullivan Dwight discovered the song and translated it into English. "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) became "O Holy Night." As Dwight was a strong abolitionist, the third verse was particularly meaningful to him. The song became especially popular in the North during the Civil War, as many Americans sang:

     Truly He taught us to love one another.

     His law is love, and His gospel is peace.

     Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,

     And in His name, all oppression shall cease.

     Sweet hymns of praise in joyful chorus raise we

     With all our hearts, we praise His holy name!

     Christ is the Lord! Let ever, ever praise we!

     His power and glory evermore proclaim!

     His power and glory evermore proclaim!

(Emphasis mine, to show which line was particularly meaningful to Dwight.)

O Holy Night also has the distinction of being the first song in history to be broadcast over the airwaves, on Christmas Eve 1906. 

For more details, you can read Ace Collins' The Amazing Story of 'O Holy Night', which is where I learned the above information.

***

In English (and in French, though the singable English translation is not literal), the first verse reflects on that night when Christ came to earth as a baby. The world had been waiting for millenia, mired in sin, in need of a Savior. That night finally came, and with a thrill, hope was born. The world rejoiced in its Savior, as a new era began. Fall on your knees and listen to the angels sing! What a holy night!

The second verse (not in the video above) seems to be the story from the perspective of  Cappeau, the observer and poet. They are standing beside the manger "with glowing hearts" to see their baby Savior. Soon, the wise man come "from Orient land" and join them in their adoration. "The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger, in all our trials born to be our friend." He understands our needs and is familiar with our weakness. Bow before Him.

The third verse is quoted above. Christ has come out of love to bring us peace. He will break our chains, since he has taken on the yoke of a slave, and as the Son of God, He is our brother. Another interpretation of that line would be that slaves are just as human as anyone else, and God will break the chains that bind people who He created in His image. In any case, He will put an end to oppression. What can we do but sing hymns and songs of praise? Christ, our Savior, has come. Proclaim his power and glory forever!

I think it puts an interesting twist on it that had never occurred to me before, that Cappeau wrote the poem as he imagined what it might have been like to observe the birth of Jesus so long ago. The first verse remembers what we have come through, the pain and bondage that sin has caused through the years as we have yearned for the prophesied Messiah to come. Now, in the second verse, here we are watching prophecy being fulfilled. All that painful time has culminated into this moment, this holy night when he has finally arrived. The third verse looks forward to when He will victoriously break the chains of sin and death, freeing us from bondage. Jesus fulfilled some of that when He died on the cross and rose again, and He will fulfill the rest when He returns.

Jesus is our Savior! Praise Him! Whatever bondage we are in, He can save us. He has conquered sin and death. As Dr. SM Lockridge so eloquently put it, "That's my King!"


First and third verses:

First and second verses:

The Christmas Song

The summer of 1944 was particularly eventful. On June 6, Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy on what would become known as D-Day. It was a turning point in World War II.

Meanwhile, back in the US, it was a particularly hot summer. Musicians Mel Tormé and Bob Wells needed to cool down, and thinking about winter seemed just the thing. Wells wrote a few notes in his notebook, and Tormé took those words and set them to music. So if you are ever sweltering in the blistering heat of summer, just remember these words:

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire!
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
With folks dressed up like Eskimos 

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight. 

They know that Santa's on his way.
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
And every mother's child is gonna spy
To see if reindeer really know how to fly 

And so I'm offering this simple phrase
For kids from one to ninety-two:
Although it's been said many times, many ways,
Merry Christmas to you!

Nat King Cole was the first to record it:



I'm not sure why they couldn't find a more imaginative title for the song, such as, oh, I don't know, "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"? But no. It's called "The Christmas Song". But then, Keith Green wrote The Easter Song (more recently)...so I guess that kind of thing isn't unheard of.
The song is a great way of thinking wintery thoughts on a warm day. In fact, I might try singing it next summer if it gets especially hot. It covers a lot of things that people do in the winter. Roasting chestnuts brings to mind the crackle of the fire that helps to warm someone up on a freezing night, as Jack Frost nips at your nose (i.e., your nose is freezing). So you come a little closer to the fire to warm up, and sing yuletide carols. Parkas, such as Eskimos (or more properly, Inuits) are known to wear, also help to keep people warm in the snow. At Thanksgiving, people typically eat turkey, and near Christmas, people have been known to kiss under the mistletoe. Children experience the wonder of the season, waiting with excited glee for Santa to come down their chimney and deliver their presents Christmas Eve. So all that's left is to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! If that doesn't psychologically cool a person down in a hot summer, I don't know what will. Maybe singing Sleigh Ride, which was born out of a heatwave two years later, would help.
I love the line about "kids from one to ninety-two." I think far too many people "grow up" and contract adultitis. If you have that, the best cure I've found is to consult the doctors Kim & Jason. But it's important to keep a child-like spirit and attitude. Sure, we need to remember the difference between child-like and childish, but we need to be careful not to "grow up" so much that we lose our sense of wonder, adventure, curiosity and silliness. When my grandpa turned 93, I pointed out that he had finally grown up, since the song says "kids from one to ninety-two." At that point, I decided it should be "kids from one to one oh two" because my grandpa still has a child-like spirit, and I think that is one thing that has kept him alive for 97 years and counting. He may need a walker now (or as he calls it, his horse), but his mind is still active, and he is one of the youngest 97-year-olds I've ever met. In fact, I will be helping him to publish his autobiography, My First 76 Years, next year. He wrote it a few years ago, but has recently been hard at work revising and improving it. Remember how I mentioned that the Allied troops stormed the beaches on D-Day the same summer Wells and Tormé wrote The Christmas Song? He wasn't among those troops, but he fought in the war, and he was in France on V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day), May 8, 1945. He is my hero.
If you want to know more about the song, you can check here and here. I especially enjoyed this account of the author seeing Mel Tormé and indirectly brightening Tormé's day.
I leave you with the aptly-named Il Volo (Italian for "The Flight"), some of my all-time favorite singers, singing one of my all-time favorite songs.

Jingle Bells

Dashing down the beach
'Cause the sand's hot underfoot
Must get to the sea
Without stepping on jellyfish.

I just made that up...but it's a more accurate picture of my childhood than the words to "Jingle Bells." :-) Living in the tropics, the sun would beat down on the beach, heating up the sand, which was not the most comfortable feeling ever for bare feet. When we visited Thailand in 1990, we also had the added benefit of avoiding the blobs of goo on the beach that were dead jellyfish, washed up on the sand. They can still sting even after they're dead. The Philippines has amazing shells on their beaches, and I loved collecting them. I also bought some polished ones in the souvenir shops.

Anyway, I'm guessing that isn't a typical way of starting a blog about a song that is all about an adventure in the snow. Some people have fond memories of playing in the snow when they were little. So do I, but most of my childhood was spent in countries that don't get snow. (The closest we got, I'm told, was one year when it got so cold in Hong Kong that there was frost on one of the mountain peaks. People came from all around to see the "snow.")

On the rare occasions when we were in the US, I loved the snow and everything about it. Well, almost everything. Since my legs were short at the time, snowshoeing was a bit of a chore, but aside from that... We built snowmen, made snow angels, and more. I don't remember ever riding in a sleigh, though. I have always loved snow, and still do to this day (although I have a healthy respect for driving in it). I think it was especially fun because it was so rare for me, and was thus a special treat. Not only because we lived in the Philippines, but because when we did come back to the US, we were in western Washington. This area doesn't get a whole lot of snow, except in the mountains, so when it does snow in the lowlands, the kids rejoice and the news media freaks out.

James Lord Pierpont (no relation to J. Pierrepont Finch), who wrote Jingle Bells in 1857, told the story of a (partially) delightful romp through the snow in a one horse open sleigh. He originally entitled his song "One Horse Open Sleigh," and he may have written it for Thanksgiving. (There are several conflicting reports regarding its origin, some of which are explained here.)

The first verse is by far the most well known:

Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way (Ha ha ha!)
Bells on bobtail ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight!

When I was little, I used to think that one line said, "Making spirits ride." That seems somewhat ghostly. Anyway, this sounds like a jolly old time. Apparently, a bobtail is a tail that is cut short, according to Dictionary.com. It must mean that the horse pulling the sleigh had a cut tail. I wonder what the ASPCA and PETA think of this song?

The second verse reminisces about the singer taking a sleighride with Miss Fanny Bright. The horse was lean and unfortunate, and they crashed into a snowbank and "got upsot" (which, according to Wikipedia, used to be a past participle of "upset," and means that the sleigh flipped). The author of this page did some research on who Miss Fanny Bright was. They found some Fanny (and Frances) Brights in old censuses, but didn't come up with a definitive answer. It's also possible that Pierpont made up the name.

The third verse gets worse. The singer now recalls going out in the snow and falling on his back. He was lying there helpless, when someone rode by in a one horse open sleigh, saw him, laughed, and continued past without helping. How rude!

The fourth and last verse gives advice on racing in a one horse open sleigh. You are supposed to do it while you're young, and take a girl along with you. "Get a bobtailed bay, two forty as his speed." The short tail must help the horse to go faster. A bay is a kind of horse. According to Wikipedia, "two forty" means that the horse needs to cover a mile in two minutes and 40 seconds (22.5 mph or 36.2 kph). If you do this, "crack! you'll take the lead." However, I'm not sure how trustworthy a guy is who just told us that he capsized a sleigh by crashing into a snowbank, and then went on to explain how he fell on his back and couldn't get up. Is he really in a place to give advice?

Apparently, the word "jingle" in the chorus is meant to be a command. Jingle bells aren't the kind of bells, but rather a command to the bells to jingle. In that case, maybe it should be called "Jingle, Bells!"

My favorite story related to Jingle Bells comes from here. Apparently, it was the first song to be played in space. In 1965, shortly before Christmas, and just before re-entering earth's atmosphere, Gemini 6 astronaut Thomas Stafford radioed into the Houston Mission Control with the news that "We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit... Looks like he might be going to re-enter soon... You just might let me pick up that thing... I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit."

I'll pause to let that sink in.

The message was followed by the sound of "Jingle Bells" played on the harmonica and sleigh bells, presumably played by the...um...pilot who was wearing a red suit (although it may or may not have actually been played by fellow mischievous astronaut Walter Schirra).

Mr. Elliot in Mission Control responded with, "You're too much."

Gotta love astronauts with a sense of humor.



My favorite arrangement (with alternate lyrics and a few surprises):

Feliz Navidad

I was in elementary. We were learning new Christmas songs, and one of them had a Spanish name. I didn't know much Spanish at the time, but I did know that the Tagalog language got a lot from Spanish, and that the Philippine culture had a lot of Spanish influence. So it wasn't a huge surprise that this new Christmas carol had a Spanish title, and it made perfect sense for it to be called Feliz Navidad, which I learned meant Merry Christmas. I don't remember if we went into what all the words meant, but I was surprised to discover that the chorus was in English! I had no trouble understanding the chorus, but I was confused why they didn't bother translating the whole song into Spanish (or English). For a while I tried singing the Spanish words (anyway, the ones I understood) in English, but that just sounded awkward... "Mer-RY Chri-ist-mas!" If I remember right, when I asked the teacher why it was in two languages in the same song, the answer had something to do with the words not fitting in the tune.

I have since learned the words and their meaning:

¡Feliz Navidad! (Merry Christmas!)
¡Feliz Navidad! (Merry Christmas!)
¡Feliz Navidad! (Merry Christmas!)
¡Prospero año y felicidad! (Prosperous year and happiness!)

I wanna wish you a merry Christmas!
(¡Quiero desearte un feliz Navidad!)
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas!
(¡Quiero desearte un feliz Navidad!)
I wanna wish you a merry Christmas!
(¡Quiero desearte un feliz Navidad)
From the bottom of my heart!
(Desde lo más profundo de mi corazón!)

Nope, the translation doesn't fit in the tune. But that was how I learned how to say "Merry Christmas" in Spanish.

The song was written in 1970 by Puerto Rican singer José Feliciano. According to his website, "Jose Feliciano is recognized as the first Latin Artist to cross over into the English music market, opening the doors for other artists who now play an important role in the American music industry." He was born in Lares, Puerto Rico in 1945, blind. He accompanied his uncle on a tin cracker can at age 3. At age 5, he and his family immigrated to New York. At the age of 6, he taught himself to play the concertina, using some records. He performed at the Puerto Rican Theater in the Bronx at the age of 9. He then taught himself the guitar, again using records! The Rock'n'Roll movement in the '50s inspired him to get into singing. By the age of 23, he had been nominated for 5 Grammy Awards and won two. Then he decided to expand his skill set and learn acting. In the '80s (around the time I learned Feliz Navidad), he wrote "The Sound of Vienna," which has since become known as the Official Anthem of the City of Vienna, Austria. (Click the title of the song to see a YouTube video of it.) Even now, he continues to explore new genres of music and performance. I have nothing but respect for someone who can do all this in normal circumstances, but multiply that respect many times when said person is blind! Did I mention he enjoys playing baseball? You can read his biography here. It's well worth the read.

Considering his career involving a lot of crossover work, I think it's appropriate for his song Feliz Navidad to be bilingual. The song itself crosses over the barriers of language, and the catchy tune even makes the words easy to remember.

Silver Bells

It was the '80s. Two young brothers were getting ready for a Christmas program, and they (OK, we) were planning to sing a duet. The song was "Silver Bells," so how should we dress up? As silver bells, of course! So we went to work. We found big pieces of cardboard and cut out bell shapes that would fit in front of us from the neck nearly to the feet. There was no silver paper handy, so naturally, we did the next best thing: pulled out our box of crayons and used the silver one. Several hours later, we had two silver bells, and a tiny stump of a silver crayon left. I don't remember the performance, but I certainly remember making the costume!

Fast forward a couple years, December 1989 was a very eventful month. Certain Philippine rebels were dissatisfied with the democratically-elected President Aquino and attempted a coup d'état the first week of December. The first day, we were on our roof watching fighter planes fly over, trying to determine if they were Philippine military, American military, or Philippine rebels. After that first day, it was too dangerous to leave our house. Ever people to find humor in a bad situation, someone came up with a parody that went something like this: "Coup d'état! Coup d'état! It's coup d'état time in Manila. Rat-tat-tat! Hear them ring! [I forget the next line] Hear the snipers, rebel snipers..."

The coup attempt lasted about a week, and the rebels lost that battle.

According to Songfacts, the song was written for Bob Hope's 1951 movie The Lemon Drop Kid by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, also known for the classic "Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be Will Be)." It was called "Tinkle Bells" (evoking the tinkly sound of the bells Santa Clauses and Salvation Army folks ring at Christmas time) until Mr. Livingston played it for his wife. She quickly pointed out that "tinkle" could be, well, misunderstood. Thus, they scrapped the song, but then ended up reviving it, substituting the word "silver." I fully endorse the change.

I like how the song captures the variety of things going on during the Christmas season. People tend to get very busy during the Christmas season. Snow crunches. (I'm sure that sounded a bit incongruous when we sang it in the Philippines wearing bells with silver crayon, as temperatures dip down to the frigid 70s in the winter there.) Kids and many adults look forward eagerly to Christmas Day. At times the spirit is almost palpable. Christmas shopping is an important part of the season. (In fact, that starts in September in the Philippines, along with Christmas music in all the stores.) Some people feel more stressed in the Christmas season when their schedule fills up, but I think it's important to take time to remember and marvel at the wonder of the season. For Christians, we celebrate the birth of our Savior. Many look forward to Santa's arrival and presents. I love how the composers even pointed out that stoplights are red and green. Red lights and traffic can be stressful for people, but it may help to use them as reminders of the wonder of the season. If someone can find humor in a violent attempt at taking over the government, surely we can take traffic, stress, full schedules and more with a grain of salt, and be joyful anyway.

I do recommend singing the revised lyrics though, and not the original ones.

I leave you with Elvis singing a great Christmas carol.

Jacob

I did the Sunday school lesson this morning and thought I'd share. Since the main lesson was only a few verses, and not a lot happened, I thought I'd start with a review of the story up to now. The whole thing covers Genesis 25-35.


The Story so far:

The day had finally arrived! Isaac and Rebekah had been waiting for this day for many years, and at last they were about to have twins! The first one came out, and they noticed he had red hair all over. So what to name him? Hairy (or Esau in Hebrew)! The second boy wasn’t far behind. In fact, he was holding onto his brother’s heel. So naturally, why not name him “He Grasps the Heel”? Too complicated? OK, let’s translate “he grasps the heel” into Hebrew: Jacob! As Hairy and Heel-Grasper got older, they developed a rivalry. Isaac liked his older son Esau better, but Rebekah preferred the younger son, Jacob. One day, Esau was out working, while Jacob stayed home and made some stew. When Esau got home, he was all tired out and starving, and all he could think of that he needed to eat something now! As he got near the house, he smelled something cooking, and he got even hungrier. Jacob was sneaky, though. He could see that his big brother was desperate to eat, and he would give anything…like, say, his birthright!

A while later, Isaac realized he wasn’t getting any younger, and he needed to pass on the blessing to his firstborn son, so he told Esau to go hunt for food to bring to him so he could bless him. But while he was gone, Rebekah made some food and helped Jacob to pretend to be Esau and get his father’s blessing. When Esau came back and found out that Jacob had tricked him again, he was steaming mad! So mad that he wanted to kill his brother.

So Jacob ran for his life. On the way, he stopped for the night. He found a nice comfy rock to use for a pillow and laid down on the ground. That night, he dreamed that he saw a stairway going from the ground up into heaven, with angels going up and down it. At the top of the stairway, he saw God. In the dream, God promised him that He would take care of him, that Jacob would be the father of a great nation, and that He would bring him back home one day. In the morning, Jacob got up and named the place Bethel, or House of God. He put the stone he had used as a pillow and set it there as a reminder of this promise. He promised God that he would serve Him.

When Jacob got to his uncle’s house, he fell in love with his cousin Rachel, and he worked for his Uncle Laban seven years so that he could marry her. But sneakiness ran in the family. After the wedding, Jacob discovered that he had actually married Rachel’s sister Leah. So he had to work another seven years to marry Rachel. So it was that Jacob had eleven sons and a daughter during the time he lived there. (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Dinah, Joseph. Benjamin wasn’t born yet.)

Finally the time came to leave, and Jacob took his wives and children and livestock and left. But on the way home, he found out that his brother Esau was coming to meet him. The last time he’d seen Esau, he had been threatening to kill him! While he was on the way to meet his brother, God met him and wrestled with him. When that happened, God gave him a new name: “He Wrestles with God” (or Israel)! When Esau saw his brother Israel, he ran to him, and they hugged. They were friends again. Then Jacob and his family settled in the city of Shechem.

Now we pick up the story where we left off…

One day, God commanded Jacob to go back to Bethel and build an altar. So Jacob obeyed. But before he left, he told everyone in his family that they were about to go worship God. He told them about how God had always helped him when he needed help, and had taken care of him. Now they needed to get rid of their idols and earrings. At the time, the earrings some of them were wearing were used as charms to worship false gods. Jacob took the idols and earrings and buried them under a big oak tree.

The whole big family then set out for Bethel. When they got there, Jacob obeyed God and built an altar. God met him and reminded him about his new name. He was no longer Jacob, but Israel. God promised him again that he would be the father of a great nation. Not only would he have thousands of descendents, but some of them would even be kings! He also promised him to give him this land as He had done for Jacob’s father Isaac and grandfather Abraham.

To mark the occasion, Jacob set up a stone pillar to remember the promise. Once again, he called the place Bethel, or House of God.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

(a.k.a. Veni, Veni, Emmanuel)

Latin:


Latin and English:


Veni, veni, Emmanuel
Captivum solve Israel,
Qui gemit in exsilio,
Privatus Dei Filio.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,
Nascetur pro te Israel!

Many have sung this Latin chant over the centuries. Though it is somewhat unclear when it was written, it either comes from the 8th Century Gregorian chants, or from the 15th Century Franciscan order of nuns, according to Wikipedia. In any case, it is traditionally sung during the Advent season, the four weeks leading up to Christmas. It wasn't until the 19th century that John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin translated it into English. It is a plea for Emmanuel, "God with us," to come and save us from our our bondage. Prophets such as Isaiah foretold of a Messiah who would be called Emmanuel, who would save Israel. Through the years, Israel went through bondage to Babylon and Assyria, and then later to Rome. The Jews longed for their promised Messiah to come. (Many Jews still do today.)

The first verse pleads with Emmanuel to come and ransom Israel, who is groaning in exile. The second verse asks for wisdom. The third verse asks the Lord to come, and it remembers the Law that He presented to Moses on Mt. Sinai with "majestic glory" (literal translation of the Latin). The fourth verse, from what I can tell, appears to be an appeal to God to use the shepherd's staff of Jesse (David's father) to catch the enemy (Satan and sin) and hurl him into the cavernous pit of hell. The fifth verse asks the metaphorical Key of David (Jesus was prophesied to be a descendant of David) to unlock the way to heaven and lock the way to hell. The sixth verse asks for comfort, and to get rid of the darkness of death. The last verse appeals to the King of the Nations and Redeemer of all (God) to come and save the people on earth who are slaves to sin.

Due to the challenges of translating a song into English, some of the ideas in the verses were lost or adjusted. The English lyrics must still fit in the tune and rhyme, so it is much more difficult to get a literal translation than, say, translating a book. One line I find interesting was the line Noctis depelle nebulas, Dirasque mortis tenebras in the sixth verse. The official English translation is "Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And death's dark shadow put to flight." The last two words, mortis tenebras, mean "death's darkness." Accordingly, the notes in the tune go down on the staff in the same way the meaning of the words goes downwards to the depths of dark death. So it's interesting that the English moves those words to earlier in the sentence and, with the notes going downward on the staff, has the words "put to flight."

Some of the prophecies that it mentions were fulfilled when Jesus came, "God with us", was born, lived, and gave His life as a ransom for the bondage that we had to sin. Jesus conquered death when He rose from the dead. Many Orthodox Jews who don't believe that Jesus was the Messiah are still waiting for Messiah to come and do this. However, some of the prophecies have not yet been fulfilled, and both Christians and Jews cry out for Christ to come and save us from our bondage. One day Jesus will return and conquer death once and for all. His sacrifice on the cross about 2000 years ago freed us who believe from sin, but as humans, we still suffer temptation and death. Someday that will be no more. Someday, Satan will be flung into the pit of hell where he can't torment and tempt us any more.

So with the Jews of old, I cry out to God:

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel

The Little Drummer Boy

(a.k.a. Carol of the Drum)


Carol of the Drum, sung by the Trapp Family Singers

The Little Drummer Boy has always been one of my favorite Christmas carols. It is the semi-fictional story of a poor boy who has nothing but a drum, who is invited to accompany the Wise Men to see the baby Jesus in the stable. The rich men are bringing the finest of their treasuries to present to the newborn King, and this poor boy has nothing to give. He seems disappointed at first that he has nothing fit for a King to give, until he realizes that he could give the gift of music. So with Mary's permission, he jams out on the drum, with the animals keeping time. What a rocking gift! It makes Jesus smile.

I call it semi-fictional because most of the characters in the story were real, but if there was a "little drummer boy", the Bible doesn't mention him. Also, by the time the Wise Men visited Him, Jesus was no longer in the stable.

However, if it had happened (which I suppose is possible to some extent...maybe one of the shepherds had a drum), I'm sure Jesus would have loved it. Also, Jesus was very clear that we need to care for the poor and not overlook them. We are to be generous, even if we don't have much to give. Based on what Jesus said about an old lady giving all she had, sometimes gifts from people who don't have anything material to give are more valuable than those given out of a fraction of someone's possessions, due to the sacrifice involved. Also, even if we don't have anything material to give, we can always give our talents. While the story of The Little Drummer Boy may not be entirely biblical, the lesson is.

Where does this song come from? I always thought it was an old Czech carol, but after a little research, I found out to my surprise that it was written by American composer Katherine Davis in 1941! She originally called it "Carol of the Drum", and the first recording of it was by the Trapp Family Singers (above). According to Wikipedia, Davis claimed to have based it on a Czech carol, but if it existed, that carol has not been found. It does have a similar style to the Czech "Rocking Carol."

Now for a different version, I leave you with the Kenyan Boys Choir and Neema Ntalel...

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

One Foggy Christmas Eve by Steven Sauke, December 2022
(picture updated because the video I originally posted here is no longer on YouTube)

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has been around since 1939, when Johnny Marks wrote it based on a story published by the Montgomery Ward company. It is a classic story of a bullied reindeer coming out on top and saving Christmas. 

But who were "all of the other reindeer"? Santa Claus to the rescue! 

Dasher, it turns out, was so named because he insisted on racing all the other reindeer every day, which seriously started to annoy them. His job is to clean and wax Santa's sleigh and to make sure that the directional radar is working right. 

When Dancer was a faun, he just wanted to dance. Santa observed this and named him accordingly. Dancer even put on tap dancing shows, and Santa suggested that he go to Broadway...but he decided he would rather pull the sleigh. When he isn't pulling the sleigh, he's doing nightly shows for the elves. 

Prancer is the activities coordinator of the reindeer. He especially enjoys organizing games of hide and seek, although they have to be careful hiding in the forest, due to hunting season. He also sponsors Friday night movies and makes popcorn and hot chocolate for everyone. 

Vixen is in love with Cupid. She's a bit of a neat freak, and makes sure the reindeer are clean...much to the annoyance of everyone but Cupid. Imagine having one of your peers make you take a bath every night! Most of the reindeer generally avoid her as much as they can. 

Comet, named after the comet Blorouis, is a straight-A student, and the pride and joy of his parents and Santa. He wants to be a teacher when he grows up. (If he was around in 1939, it must take a long time for reindeer to grow up!) 

Not surprisingly, Cupid was born on Valentine's Day. Santa named him Cupid due to his annoying habit of trying to arrange dates between reindeer. To that end, he even published his own newspaper, The Cupid Times. Blitzen works in his office, and Rudolph delivers the papers, which cost 25 cents. 

Donner (a.k.a. Donder) is the fitness expert. He drills the reindeer and makes sure they're in excellent shape for the annual flight around the world. Training starts November 8, when reindeer try out for spots on Santa's team. 

Blitzen brought back memories for Santa, back when Santa was in high school football, and their team used to blitz their opponents. Whenever Santa's team runs into a blizzard on their annual flight, Blitzen takes the lead and pulls them through. 

Rudolph was always the underdeer. The other reindeer always made fun of him, shunned him and bullied him due to his shiny nose. When he was young, he even tried to make it not shine, but nothing worked. On that fateful Christmas Eve, the fog at the North Pole was so thick that you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. Santa very nearly canceled the trip due to the weather conditions, until he realized that it might be worth a shot to put Rudolph in the lead. The rest, as they say, is history. 

But wait! Claus has a different tale to tell. 

Dasher comes from Los Angeles and has his own movie studio. He spends most of his time making movies with Venison Studios and hanging out on the beach. He is notorious for flying to the North Pole on his own private jet with only minutes to spare before the annual flight with the other reindeer. If he weren't so good at the Santa gig, Santa would have fired him years ago for his chronic lateness. 

Dancer and Prancer are twins. They had a great traveling act going many years ago, but their dream of stardom was brought to a tragic end by a hunter who fired on the stage. Out of work, they found an ad for a job at the North Pole, requesting anyone with talents useful at Christmas. 

Both sites agree that Vixen is neat, and that she's in love with Cupid. She is known for her graceful flying skills. Vixen was leading a group of trainee reindeer when they got into a dangerous situation. Cupid came to the rescue, and ironically, Vixen was smitten with the other Cupid's arrow. Vixen and Cupid are happily married, and they still hold hooves. 

Comet was leading the team through the fog one night, when tragedy struck and they had a serious accident. It evidently caused brain damage because he's been "spacey" ever since (thus the name). He thought he saw the lighthouse light at the tip of the North Pole, but unfortunately, it turned out to be a comet. He heroically saved the rest of the team by headbutting it out of the earth's atmosphere, but he has never been the same since. 

Both sites agree that Cupid is the matchmaker of the team. Once, he saw a group of reindeer trainees spinning out of control in a sudden updraft of wind and on a collision course with a nearby mountain. He dove in and grabbed the lead rein, guiding them back under control. A young doe named Vixen took note of that, and he has been her hero (and husband) ever since. 

The two sites disagree about the gender of Donder. Weird. However, they agree that Donder keeps the reindeer fit. She has a friendly rivalry with Dasher, mainly because she thinks she should be Captain rather than him. She's also in charge of the reindeer games. 

Blitzen was so named due to his proclivity to being struck by lightning. It's happened so much that he has an electrical charge now! He can get radio and TV signals on his antlers, and they even point north. He is Santa's compass, radio and lightning rod on the annual trip. 

Sadly, Claus.com, like the other reindeer's initial reaction, discriminates against Rudolph and leaves him out. Such a sad commentary on reindeerkind. Hopefully they learn the error of their ways. They paint such heroic pictures of the bully reindeer that it makes me wonder if these stories are true. Perhaps all the heroics were actually done by Rudolph and everyone else is jealous. 

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I also find the side comments in the song interesting. His nose was shiny "like a lightbulb." I hope so, if it's gonna get the reindeer through the fog. 

One of the names the reindeer called him was Pinocchio. How mean can you get? Comparing him with a puppet who very nearly turned into a donkey and was known for lying. However, like Rudolph, Pinocchio came out on top, and he learned his lesson. The comparison breaks down, though, in that it is the other reindeer, rather than Rudolph, who learn their lesson. 

 It suggests that the reindeer enjoy playing Monopoly. Really? Very few games bore me, but Monopoly is quite possibly the most boring game I have ever played. The only time I enjoyed it was when we played it in class in high school once, and it had to be split into segments due to limited time. 

Rudolph will go down in history, like Columbus. That is an apt comparison, as Columbus and Rudolph, one could say, were/are both famous explorers who dreamed of circumnavigating the globe. Columbus didn't succeed at that, but Rudolph does it every year! I hope that Rudolph's navigation skills are better than Columbus', though, and Rudolph doesn't land in Cuba thinking he's in China! That could lead to some embarrassing situations. [Update, 2022, as I have since learned more about Columbus... it seems he was a much worse bully then the other reindeer, to put it lightly. That's a subject for another time, but I definitely don't recommend Columbus' brutal and racist tactics.]

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I also find it interesting that the reindeer are not that different from humans. They tend to shun, bully, and generally mistreat anyone who is different from them, whether or not they can help it. Then, only when it turns out there's something in it for them do they accept the person that is different. I think the lesson of this song is that we need to value each other's differences and realize that, as they say, "what makes us different makes us strong."

(No Place Like) Home for the Holidays

Home for the Holidays is one of those songs that makes me happy, then leaves me wondering what planet the composer comes from. It was composed by Robert Allen, lyrics by Al Stillman, published in 1954. Perry Como recorded it shortly thereafter.

It tells about how amazing it is to come home for the holidays (I expect it meant Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year at the time). Personally, I have had a rather unusual life, and I have lived on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Having spent large parts of my life in the US and the Philippines, it's hard to define "home" for me. When we lived in the Philippines, we were too far away to be able to afford to come back to the US for Christmas. In the US, it hasn't necessarily made sense to go to the Philippines for Christmas. Thus, I've never really been in a position to make a long trip "home" for the Christmas season. The biggest trip I've ever made at Christmas was in 2009, when I "met a man who lived in Tennessee" (as the song says), and surprised my "adopted" big sister Jill Brasfield (which involved a lot of plotting with her husband and my "adopted" big brother Andy). I left Seattle on December 26, wearing a Tennessee Vols sweatshirt. I was particularly amused that someone at SeaTac Airport asked me if I was returning to Tennessee. I said, "Sort of. I've never been there before." That confused him. :-) But never fear, my "adopted" family in Tennessee definitely made me feel right at home. I'm sure for many people who actually do go home every year, it's a refreshing time of getting caught up on family life and seeing the sights and people you knew growing up. I know I had a blast visiting "family" in Tennessee! I don't recall having pumpkin pie there...probably because I went to Tennessee and not Pennsylvania...but pumpkin pie is always one of the highlights of November and December for me. :-)

I love traveling (for the most part), and this song is definitely about that. People travel from Tennessee to Pennsylvania, from Pennsylvania to Dixie, and elsewhere. Interesting, no mention of western states (at least by name). They also fail to mention some Northwesterners (such as Justin Donnelson) who like to vacation in Hawaii in the winter. Maybe because Hawaii wasn't a state yet in 1954 when this was written (and I'm pretty sure Justin wasn't born yet, anyway).

But there's one line that baffles me: "From Atlantic to Pacific, the traffic is terrific." Traffic is WHAT?! The busiest season of the year, when everyone is out shopping for Christmas, traffic jams are backed way up, impatient drivers have taken leave of common sense...they call that terrific? Maybe it was terrific in 1954? Or maybe Al Stillman enjoyed sitting in traffic. I don't know what planet Stillman lived on, but if it was terrific then, times have changed. (Of course, in Manila where I come from, terrific traffic means it only takes an hour to get 10 miles.) :-)

Aside from the bizarre traffic comment, this is a wonderful, heartwarming song, and I'm sure it embodied the wonderful feelings the composers had in the Christmas season, and many folks have had since then traveling home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and other winter holidays (or just vacation in general).