It’s always a pleasure singing traditional Christmas carols in church,
around the neighborhood or near our little Advent wreath this time of
year. But as much as Christmas music is a communal experience, hundreds
of musicians have recorded these sacred songs, giving us many different
ways to enjoy them. Here are a few of my favorite specific recordings of
various religious Christmas songs.
Angels We Have Heard on High – Having just recently seen Straight No Chaser
in concert, I have to award them the honor of my favorite version of
this celestial-sounding carol. Jerome Collins puts a soulful twist on
the melody, and all those gorgeous voices coming together really does
sound like a choir of angels. Throw in the visual element of some
crystal blue lighting, and the effect is heavenly. “Gloria in Excelsis
Deo!” This one is bundled with Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and
it’s a logical pairing; I always have to stop a minute to think about
which song is which. Though it’s the former song that makes the bigger
impression on me in this mash-up, both are beautifully done. “Hark! The
herald angels sing. Glory to the newborn king!”
Away in a Manger
– I consider this the most basic of Christmas carols, the first one
that most children learn how to sing. There are two different melodies
commonly used; I prefer the slightly more somber-sounding one to the one
most Sunday school students cut their musical teeth on, but both are
lovely. When it comes to conveying sweet simplicity, John Denver is hard to beat, and his gentle acoustic rendition of the “kid” version gets my vote. For the “adult” version, meanwhile, Anne Murray’s
heartfelt recording, which incorporates both piano and guitar and
includes a nod at the other melody, is my favorite. “Be near me, Lord
Jesus. I ask thee to stay close by me forever and love me, I pray…”
Carol of the Bells - It has no words, and it starts out with God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. It’s a little unconventional. But boy, do I love Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s
electrified rendition of this song, which is one of the harder carols
to sing anyway. I prefer clutching my invisible hand bells in my fists
and ringing them out in time to the music. If you’re going to go with a
vocal version of the song, I do love Straight No Chaser’s
version of this one too, with the men using their voices to imitate the
sound of bells. “Hark! How the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to
say, ‘Throw cares away.’”
Children, Go Where I Send Thee –
This one isn’t exactly as in the mainstream as most of the songs on
this list, and it’s a little funny that I like it so much since I find The 12 Days of Christmas
so tedious and really, this song only makes marginally more sense than
that one. But there’s something so joyful about it, especially when Peter, Paul and Mary,
who introduced me to the song, belt it out along with dozens of choir
members. “Children, go where I send thee! How shall I send thee? I’m
gonna send thee one by one, one for the itty bitty baby who was born,
born, born in Bethlehem.”
Do You Hear What I Hear? – This is a song that seems to be very hard to get wrong. I’ve heard probably dozens of versions of it, and everybody, from Kristin Chenoweth to Bob Dylan,
seems to bring their A game to this stirring anthem that celebrates the
birth of Christ and expresses a desire for peace at a time when the
threat of nuclear war hung heavy in the air. But Vanessa Williams’
version has just an extra something in it that puts it at the very top
of my ranking. Her vocals are so clear and soulful, and I just love the
exuberant instrumentation and African chanting that comes into play
later in the song. Whenever this comes on the radio, I’m completely
swept away in the wonder of it all. “Said the king to the people
everywhere, listen to what I say. Pray for peace people everywhere.
Listen to what I say. The child, the child sleeping in the night, he
will bring us goodness and light…”
The First Noel - Clay Aiken recorded a Christmas album that came out just a year and a half after he emerged from the second season of American Idol the runner-up. I was pleased with the album, but my favorite Clay Christmas recording remains this song from the American Idol
compilation released late in 2003. The sparse accompaniment allows
Clay’s voice to truly shine as he builds toward a dramatic finish. This
is one of those songs I’ve always liked but that never stood out that
much from the pack. Ever since I heard that recording, it does. “Noel,
noel, noel, noel. Born is the king of Israel.”
The Friendly Beasts
– I really love the traditional rendition on Peter, Paul and Mary’s
Christmas album, with each of them taking a verse and doing his or her
best to convey the personality of the animal at hand and the choir
helping out on the other verses. Meanwhile, the song, with a reworked
melody, serves as a cornerstone on Jimmy Webb’s oratorio The Animals’ Christmas;
as the only song on the album that Webb didn’t write himself, it brings
an air of familiarity to an otherwise wholly original work for which he
recruited the vocal talents of Art Garfunkel, Amy Grant and the Kings
College School Choir. “Thus, every beast, by some good spell, in the
stable rude was glad to tell of the gift he gave Emmanuel…”
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - They call it Comfort and Joy, which really is probably a better title, albeit less instantly recognizable. Simon and Garfunkel
never recorded much Christmas music, but for whatever reason, they did
record a couple of traditional carols. While it always seemed to me that
Silent Night was used for ironic emphasis, with the exquisite
harmonies juxtaposed against the far from tranquil news broadcast, this a
cappella rendition with the increasingly complex harmonies can be taken
at face value. Just a very nice recording. If you miss the instruments,
of course, there’s always Trans-Siberian Orchestra… “Remember Christ
the Savior was born on Christmas day to save us all from Satan’s pow’r
when we were gone astray. Oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and
joy. Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.”
Good King Wenceslas
– My brother recently identified this very old ballad as his favorite
Christmas song, and we set out in search of a version to play for him
before he set out for college again after our little First Sunday in
Advent service at the conclusion of Thanksgiving weekend. He didn’t
think much of the Irish Rovers
rendition we played; it was much too peppy, he informed us, and he
preferred versions that really made us feel that faithful page’s pain.
But there’s a lot of joy in this song about a warm and generous monarch
whose chief concern is the well-being of one of his poorest citizens, so
the Rovers’ exuberant version is fine by me. “Therefore, Christian men,
be sure, wealth or rank possessing, ye who now will bless the poor
shall yourselves find blessing.”
Joy to the World - This
is a wonderfully ecstatic song, but it’s one that’s in danger of getting
a little over-the-top, as it does on Clay Aiken’s Christmas album. I
prefer versions that show a little restraint before going all-out, and
my favorite is Anne Murray’s, backed by some nice Gospel-flavored piano
accompaniment and eventually joined by a choir. It works quite nicely
and is easy to sing along with. “Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let
Earth receive her King!”
The Little Drummer Boy – This
gentle song about a little boy who gives the best that he has to the
Christ Child is representative of a large sub-genre of Christmas
stories, most of which are quite touching. The original Harry Simeone
version is nice, but as far as basic versions go, I love the punchy
way Bob Seger does it. But probably my favorite version is the odd
pairing of Bing Crosby and David Bowie,
with the counter-melody in which Bowie dreams of a day when people can
learn to get along with each other. At first it seemed a bit of a
strange juxtaposition to me, but upon reflection, it reminds me of the
passage in Isaiah that concludes with “and a little child shall lead
them.” Anyway, a very poignant recording, especially considering how
late it came in Crosby’s life. “I have no gift to bring,
pa-rum-pum-pum-pum, that’s fit to give a king, pa-rum-pum-pum-pum,
rum-pum-pum-pum, rum-pum-pum-pum…”
O Come All Ye Faithful
- Art Garfunkel recorded this one for some obscure collection a few
years back, and it’s the most intricate, exquisite rendition I’ve heard.
It’s a shame it’s rather hard to track down. With simple acoustic
guitar accompaniment gradually joined by gentle percussion and
accordion, what really makes this stand out is the dense layers of Art
harmonizing with himself, especially toward the end. I also have to
mention Trans-Siberian Orchestra once again, as their reworked rendition
is quite moving, and Phil Coulter integrated the song into Christmas Morning Donegal, the haunting, nostalgic ballad that I’ve come to think of as the Celtic Thunder
swan song of powerhouse tenor Paul Byrom. This is a song that tends to
inspire the best in musicians… “O come let us adore Him, Christ the
Lord!”
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - I’ve always thought that this Christmas carol had a very Jewish feeling to it, so it seems appropriate for Neil Diamond to take top honors here. His version feels mysterious and solemn, and the pairing with We Three Kings just emphasizes the idea of this birth being a long-anticipated event. “O come, o come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel…”
O Little Town of Bethlehem
– There are plenty of appropriately somber versions of this song
floating around, but my favorite is the peppy, bluegrass-tinged Prairie Home Companion edition, in which it is mashed up with It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and We Three Kings,
which makes a smashing chorus. There are much more traditional versions
of each carol readily available, but Garrison Keillor and his band
really do a bang-up job on this one. “O little town of Bethlehem, how
still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent
stars go by…”
Silent Night – Now this is certainly a
tough one, since it seems almost everyone who has ever recorded a
Christmas album with any religious content at all has recorded this
song. I love Simon and Garfunkel’s version, and Prairie Home Companion
has an unusually bouncy instrumental version that’s a lot of fun. I find
the Muppets’
German rendition quite moving. But I think I gotta go with Celtic
Thunder on this one, especially since they paved the way for it by
recording Christmas 1915, which incorporates the beloved carol. Their version of Silent Night
itself is richly harmonic, with an interesting backing chorus, and one
of the verses is entirely in Gaelic. It’s hauntingly beautiful. “Silent
night, holy night. Son of God, love’s pure light…”
What Child Is This? - This is a pretty carol with a rather melancholy edge to it, largely because it takes the melody of that lovely lament, Greensleeves. I love John Denver’s simple but heartfelt rendition for all the reasons I love his Away in the Manger,
and the faint presence of the harpsichord just makes it all the more
appealing. “This, this is Christ the King whom shepherds guard and
angels sing…”
O Holy Night - I always tell people that
this is my default favorite Christmas song. In the month or two leading
up to Christmas, my favorite will change on any given day, but if I’m
not particularly gripped by anything at the time, O Holy Night is
what I always fall back on. But I don’t have a favorite version. Of all
the versions I’ve ever heard, the one that affected me most profoundly
was a performance by a seven-year-old girl at a long-ago Christmas
pageant. No version I’ve heard since can quite recapture that
experience. Preferred versions include Josh Groban’s, Celine Dion’s, Straight No Chaser’s, John Denver’s and Celtic Woman’s,
but I’m still on the hunt for that elusive definitive version. If
anybody has any recommendations for me, I’d be happy to take them –
bonus points if it includes my favorite, often-left-out verse. “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…”
So there’s my list. It doesn’t
begin to cover all the great Christmas music that I love so much, but
it’s a start anyway and gives you a good idea of where my musical tastes
lie. Of course, at no time of year am I more likely to embrace new
artists than at Christmas; the familiarity of the songs opens a door for
me. So I hope this list continues to expand…
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