Merry Christmas to you, Neo, and to all the readers here!
Merry Christmas to you, Neo and thank you for keeping this excellent blog going!
Merry Christmas to all and thank you neo for all the work you do!
Same to you, Neo, and to everyone else here.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to Neo and everyone else who visits her blog.
“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” is not only one of my favorite Christmas carols, it is particularly appropriate during our current political upheavals and the accompanying fear and anger. The words were written on Christmas Day, 1863, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow– the author of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” “The Song of Hiawatha,” and many other poems that kids used to read and learn. Longfellow had suffered two recent losses: his beloved second wife had died in 1861 in a household accident in which her clothes caught fire; and his oldest son had left to join the Union Army in 1863 against Longfellow’s wishes.
There are two stanzas in “I Heard the Bells” that are not included (at least I’ve never heard them) in the sung versions of Longfellow’s poem. They appear between the first two stanzas and the last two:
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Let us all hope that the poet’s message in the last stanza is fulfilled in our time as it was in his:
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
Merry Christmas. Thank You.
Amen.
Happy wassailing, everyone. In moderation, of course.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas
Thanks for the song.
Another excellent Foxes and Fossils song, “Angels we have heard on High”
What more need or could I say than Merry Christmas to you, Neo, and to the company you’ve assembled here to share thought, wit and charity; and of these, foremost, charity.
Merry Christmas, dear Neo, and everyone here <3 God bless
And merry Christmas to you and all your readers/commenters, Neo. Thank you for giving us a place to meet and share our thoughts.
Merry Christmas, all!
Merry Christmas Neo and all readers and posters.
Merry Christmas, Neo. I don’t comment, but I check in daily. Appreciate your work. Have a good new year.
Merry Christmas!
PA+Cat correctly informs us that the poet Longfellow wrote the poem which became the lyrics to this song.
Others have put Longfellow’s poem to music. For instance, here’s the version Burl Ives sang somewhere back in the sixties:
However, this “Foxes and Fossils” version is based on the John Gorka arrangement. I’m an old fan of John Gorka, so I can’t resist providing a pointer to his original:
Merry Christmas to you, Neo, and to all the readers here!
Merry Christmas to you, Neo and thank you for keeping this excellent blog going!
Merry Christmas to all and thank you neo for all the work you do!
Same to you, Neo, and to everyone else here.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to Neo and everyone else who visits her blog.
“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” is not only one of my favorite Christmas carols, it is particularly appropriate during our current political upheavals and the accompanying fear and anger. The words were written on Christmas Day, 1863, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow– the author of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” “The Song of Hiawatha,” and many other poems that kids used to read and learn. Longfellow had suffered two recent losses: his beloved second wife had died in 1861 in a household accident in which her clothes caught fire; and his oldest son had left to join the Union Army in 1863 against Longfellow’s wishes.
There are two stanzas in “I Heard the Bells” that are not included (at least I’ve never heard them) in the sung versions of Longfellow’s poem. They appear between the first two stanzas and the last two:
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Let us all hope that the poet’s message in the last stanza is fulfilled in our time as it was in his:
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
Merry Christmas. Thank You.
Amen.
Happy wassailing, everyone. In moderation, of course.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas
Thanks for the song.
Another excellent Foxes and Fossils song, “Angels we have heard on High”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7j_cwW-lGg
What more need or could I say than Merry Christmas to you, Neo, and to the company you’ve assembled here to share thought, wit and charity; and of these, foremost, charity.
Merry Christmas, dear Neo, and everyone here <3 God bless
And merry Christmas to you and all your readers/commenters, Neo. Thank you for giving us a place to meet and share our thoughts.
Merry Christmas, all!
Merry Christmas Neo and all readers and posters.
Merry Christmas, Neo. I don’t comment, but I check in daily. Appreciate your work. Have a good new year.
Merry Christmas!
PA+Cat correctly informs us that the poet Longfellow wrote the poem which became the lyrics to this song.
Others have put Longfellow’s poem to music. For instance, here’s the version Burl Ives sang somewhere back in the sixties:
–Burl Ives, “I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nk77EOgapg
However, this “Foxes and Fossils” version is based on the John Gorka arrangement. I’m an old fan of John Gorka, so I can’t resist providing a pointer to his original:
–John Gorka, “Christmas Bells”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2nxeACcW3I
Check out his album, “Jack’s Crows” (1991), if your interest in piqued.
Wasn’t around for this yesterday.
My favorite Christmas tune (TobyMac – Light of Christmas).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFDHug7B_LQ
Another version of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”,
an acapella version by the “Doxology Vocal Ensemble of Southern Seminary.
Beautiful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCzqXNbGqv4
Oligonicella…Wow…that knocks the cobwebs off the stockings.
Thanks.