Stories Behind Christmas Songs

8/8/2019 Stories Behind Christmas Songs

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The First Noel !

The First Noel is unknown in origin but is generally thought to be English dating back to

the sixteenth century. There is a misconception that the First Noel was French and it is

believed that this is because of the French spelling of Noel as opposed to the olde English

Anglo-Saxon spelling of the word as in Nowell. After England was captured by theNormans numerous words were adopted from the Norman French language and Noel was

re-spelt as Nowell, early printed versions of this carol use the Nowell spelling. The First

Noel was first published in 1833 when it appeared in "Christmas Carols Ancient andModern," a collection of seasonal carols gathered by William B. Sandys.

Silent Night!

The origin of the Christmas carol we know as Silent Night was a poem that was writtenin 1816 by an Austrian priest called Joseph Mohr. On Christmas Eve in 1818 in the small

alpine village called Oberndorf it is reputed that the organ at St. Nicholas Church had

broken. Joseph Mohr gave the poem of Silent Night (Stille Nacht) to his friend Franz

Xavier Gruber and the melody for Silent Night was composed with this in mind. Themusic to Silent Night was therefore intended for a guitar and the simple score was

finished in time for Midnight Mass. Silent Night is the most famous Christmas carol of

all time!

O Little Town of Bethlehem !

Rector Phillips Brooks (1835-1903) of Philadelphia, wrote the words to O Little Town of

Bethlehem in 1868, following a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He was inspired by theview of Bethlehem from the hills of Palestine especially at night time hence the lyrics of

O Little Town of Bethlehem. His church organist Lewis Redner (1831-1908) wrote the

melody to O Little Town of Bethlehem for the Sunday school children's choir.

O Come All Ye Faithful!

The text to the Carol O Come All Ye Faithful was originally written in Latin (AdesteFideles) and was intended to be a hymn, it is attributed to John Wade, an Englishman.

The music to O Come All Ye Faithful was composed by fellow Englishman John

Reading in the early 1700s. The tune was first published in a collection known as "CantusDiversi" in 1751. In 1841 Rev. Frederick Oakley is reputed to have worked on the

familiar translation of O Come All Ye Faithful which replaced the older Latin lyrics

"Adeste Fideles".

Joy to the World

The words and lyrics of the old Christmas carol 'Joy to the World' were written in 1719

by Isaac Watts (1674-1748). Joy to the World is a popular Christmas carol which is based

on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The father of John Watts was a Non-conformist and so extreme

were his views that he was imprisoned twice. His father's influence over Isaac wasdemonstrated when he choose to attend Nonconformist Academy at Stoke Newington in

preference to a University. Watts was ordained as a Pastor of an Independent
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congregation. He wrote many hymns and Carols and was awarded a Doctor of Divinity

degree by the the University of Edinburgh in 1728. The music to the carol is by George

Frederick Handel (1685-1759).Click the following link forChristmas sheet music.

Little Drummer Boy!

The words and music to the Christmas song Little Drummer Boy was composed by

Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone in 1958. The lyrics of LittleDrummer Boy consist of no less than 21 rum pum pum pum' - a major part of the song

and therefore presenting an apparently easy task for the lyricist! However, Little

Drummer Boy has been a huge hit for several artists. The most notable rendition wascreated by the most unlikely combination of Bing Crosby and David Bowie. This version

of Little Drummer Boy was a massive hot for the artists and was in fact Bing Crosby's

most successful recording since the legendary White Christmas.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

The famous Christmas song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer started life as a poem

created by an American advertising executive called Robert May. He was requested to

produce a poem that could be given away to children by the Santa Claus employed byDepartment Stores at Christmas! Working as an Advertising Executive Robert May had a

natural flair with words and was able to compose the Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

poem which was specifically designed to appeal to children. This marketing ploy was amassive success and approximately 2.5 million Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer poems

were given away in the first year of its publication! In 1949 the singer Gene Autry

recorded a musical version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer composed by Johnny

Marks.

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire is definitively called the Christmas Song. The lovelymusic and lyrics were composed by Torme and Wells in 1946. The most popular

recording of this truly great Christmas song, Chestnuts roasting on an open fire was

recorded by Nat King Cole. The strong imagery in the words to this Christmas song arealso complimented by such sentiments as reflected in one of its lines "from kids from

from one to ninety-two" which encompass the essence of the family Christmas. The

notion that a traditional Christmas should be white is also profligated in the lyric of this

Christmas song, Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas!

The heart warming Christmas song Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas was

immortalised by Judy Garland when she sang this song to Margaret O'Brien and brought

tears to the eyes of the audience. The lyricist for Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmaswas Ralph Blane and the haunting music was composed by Hugh Martin. The song Have
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Yourself A Merry Little Christmas was first published in 1943. The title of Have

Yourself A Merry Little Christmas is undoubtedly one of the saddest Christmas songs of

the century.

White Christmas !

The song White Christmas is undoubtedly the most famous and popular of all

the Christmas songs. The music and lyrics for White Christmas were written by Irving

Berlin in 1942 and originally featured in the movie Holiday Inn starring Bing Crosby.The lyrics of White Christmas struck a chord with the soldiers fighting in the Second

World War and their families who were waiting for them back home. The song and

recording of White Christmas by Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter's orchestra and the

Ken Darby Singers was so popular that it was later reprised in the movie called after itsname - White Christmas. The film White Christmas once again starred Bing Crosby

together with Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

The author and composer of We Wish You a Merry Christmas cannot be traced howeverit is believed to date back to England in the sixteenth century. The tradition of carollers

being given Christmas treats for singing to wealthy members of the community is

reflected in this Christmas song - We Wish You a Merry Christmas! Over the years thefashion for figgy puddings mentioned in We Wish You a Merry Christmas has faded. But

for the curious, the recipe consisted of the most important ingredient which was of course

figs together with butter, sugar, eggs ,milk, rum, apple, lemon and orange peel, nuts,

cinnamon, cloves and ginger! Not dissimilar to the modern day Christmas Puddings!

Religious symbolism of The Twelve Days of Christmas(The 12 Days of Christmas)

1 True Love refers to God

2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments3 French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues

4 Calling Birds refers to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists

5 Golden Rings refers to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch",which gives the history of man's fall from grace.

6 Geese A-laying refers to the six days of creation

7 Swans A-swimming refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the sacraments

8 Maids A-milking refers to the eight beatitudes9 Ladies Dancing refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit

10 Lords A-leaping refers to the ten commandments

11 Pipers Piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles12 Drummers Drumming refers to the points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

Frosty The Snowman Lyrics


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Frosty The Snowman

Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul,

With a corncob pipe and a button nose

And two eyes made out of coal.Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale, they say,

He was made of snow but the children

Know how he came to life one day.

There must have been some magic in thatOld silk hat they found.

For when they placed it on his head

He began to dance around.O, Frosty the snowman

Was alive as he could be,

And the children say he could laughAnd play just the same as you and me.

Thumpetty thump thump,

Thumpety thump thump,

Look at Frosty go.Thumpetty thump thump,


Over the hills of snow.

Frosty the snowman knew

The sun was hot that day,

So he said, "Let's run andWe'll have some fun

Now before I melt away."Down to the village,

With a broomstick in his hand,

Running here and there all

Around the square saying,Catch me if you can.

He led them down the streets of town

Right to the traffic cop.And he only paused a moment when

He heard him holler "Stop!"For Frosty the snow manHad to hurry on his way,

But he waved goodbye saying,

"Don't you cry,

I'll be back again some day."Thumpetty thump thump,



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Look at Frosty go.

Thumpetty thump thump,

Thumpety thump thump,Over the hills of snow.

Frosty the Snowman is a popular Christmas song written by Steve "Jack" Rollins and

Steve Nelson and recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. Like Jingle

Bells and several other songs about winter, Frosty the Snowman is considered to be aChristmas song despite not mentioning Christmas at all. It was written after Gene Autry

recorded "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and the single sold 2 million copies.

Frosty the Snowman was a response to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. When songwriters Jack Nelson and Steve Rollins saw what success Gene Autry was having in 1949,

singing Rudolph's song, they decided to write their own silly but catchy song doing

variations on an icon of Christmas. It took them months to decide on a living snowman as

their subject, but they still had it ready in time for a 1950 release. Autry, delighted withthe opportunity to ride his own recording's coat-tails back to the top of the charts,

recorded it, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Frosty the Snowman is a very popular Christmas song and has been a great favorite with

children since the very beginning. The song gained enormous popularity after it hit the

market and seemed a fit sequel for Rudolf the red nosed reindeer, a Christmas song thathad been recorded a few years earlier and had proved to be a huge hit. The song (Frosty)

was not only a cute childrens poem, it also had a feel-good spirit that makes for a

holiday favorite.

Stories Behind Christmas Songs

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