My favorite Christmas hymn is “O Come, O Come Immanuel,” a 12th Century Christian hymn originally written in Latin:
O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, Who orderest all things mightily; To us the path of knowledge show, And teach us in her ways to go.
Refrain
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny; From depths of hell Thy people save, And give them victory over the grave.
Refrain
O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Refrain
O come, Thou Key of David, come, And open wide our heavenly home; Make safe the way that leads on high, And close the path to misery.
Refrain
O come, O come, great Lord of might, Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height In ancient times once gave the law In cloud and majesty and awe.
Refrain
O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree, An ensign of Thy people be; Before Thee rulers silent fall; All peoples on Thy mercy call.
Refrain
O come, Desire of nations, bind In one the hearts of all mankind; Bid Thou our sad divisions cease, And be Thyself our King of Peace.
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11 comments:
Who knew there were so many verses to that song? That's great.
Christmas is a fantastic time for people from all sorts of nonbelieving backgrounds to sing about Jesus, often without even thinking about it. Sneaky sneaky!
I like Jingle Bell Rock
O Come, Emmanuel- definitely a favorite. So rich in imagery, theology, and meaning.
From a musical standpoint, the verses in a minor key resolve to joy in the chorus, written in a major key. Fantastico!
O Come, Emmanuel- definitely a favorite. So rich in imagery, theology, and meaning.
From a musical standpoint, the verses in a minor key resolve to joy in the chorus, written in a major key. Fantastico!
Rudolph good.
A thousand years and it's still kickin' A.
Oh, yeah, and rudolph too
Rudolph....blech.
I´m more of a fan of "Dig that Crazy Santa Claus" by the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Gotta pick that one up, guys. It swings.
by the way, I took much, much grief for singing that "sad hymn" called "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." Too sad for a joyous gathering of the believers.
:/
Now you've done it. Brian is having flashbacks.
You could have just sung the chorus without the verses. There shall be no minor key singing in church!
"D minor is the saddest of all keys, I find. People weep instantly when they hear it, and I don't know why." [obligatory Spinal Tap quote.]
Time to be serious. I love “O Come, O Come Immanuel.” D-minor rocks!
D-minor rolls, actually. ;)
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