Christmas is mere hours away. By now, for those who celebrate the holiday, even the worst of the procrastinators are as prepared as they're going to get. Anyone who has gone shopping in the past month has been bombarded by the most cliche, readily identifiable Christmas music in our culture. Which is why many of us have come to hate some of it. Some here have not been shy about mentioning the Christmas Song that Shall Not Be Named. The thing is, that song could be one of several for me. Regardless, we all have at least one of those Christmas songs that, if we ever hear it again, it will be too soon.
However, I do love Christmas songs and carols--just not the ones that get piped into shopping malls during the holidays. I'd like to share some of these with you after the jump--and I can assure you that you will not have heard any of these songs in any mall in America. I hope you'll enjoy them on this evening before the holiday officially begins.
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There's no accounting for taste, of course, and that means what I like might not be what you like, an I understand that. Personally, I prefer music that's simple and direct, with as little adornment as possible. Keep that in mind as you sample (or not) the offerings below.
I'll start with some English carols as performed by the quartet Nowell Sing We Clear. Here's a rehearsal recording of the song "The Holly and the Ivy," and, no, it's not the one you think you know--it's more rambunctious than the most familiar version. There's no doubt in my mind that this song has its roots in pagan solstice celebrations.
"The Cherry Tree Carol" (again, as you've likely never heard it before), followed by "The Ten Joys of Mary."
"Rise Up Jock" is most clearly a song with origins in pagan solstice celebration. It tells the story of the Mummers' Play, with its theme of death and resurrection.
It's a little early in the season for this next one: it's a song for Twelfth Night, the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas. In modern times, by the time we get to Twelfth Night, we've completely forgotten about Christmas. British Twelfth Night tradition again has a pagan cast to it, where boys capture and kill a wren, and declare it King of Twelfth Night, and sing this song (as performed by Steeleye Span):
And now for something completely different: A hymn from The Sacred Harp entitled "Sherburne." The recording comes from a recent traditional Sacred Harp singing in Texas. (Note that the singers sing the song through the first time using solfage (fa-sol-la), and the second time with the words, so it's not an accident that you don't understand anything the first time through.)
Here is Jean Ritchie's rendition of "Brightest and Best." I originally wanted to post the shape-note version of this, but I couldn't resist posting a recording of Ritchie's extraordinary voice.
Remembering that Christmas ought to be a time for Peace on Earth, here is John McCutcheon's song about how World War I ground to a halt on Christmas Eve 1914, 100 years ago tonight, confounding the generals. Some troops were court-martialed for fraternizing with the enemy. Jekyllnhyde's diary this evening memorializes this Christmas truce, completely by coincidence.
Finally, I'll post this modern song written by Bob Franke, "Straw Against the Chill," performed by the Short Sisters.
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I wish you all a happy day tomorrow.
Now on to the comments!
TOP COMMENTS
December 24, 2014
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From Yasuragi:
This whole thread, started by Tara the Antisocial Social Worker, in Bob Johnson's recommended diary which has so many wonderful threads (See below--ed.) it makes it all the more amazing this one stood out to me. Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you merrymakers.
From your humble diarist:
arizonablue asks the question on everybody's mind in Bob Johnson's recommended excuse for a diary (that's snark) Ask me anything even though I don't work for the site. Bill in Portland Maine also lets a good one fly.
In a lame attempt to acknowledge the last night of Channukah, which is tonight, let me point to this comment posted by meagert in his/her own post Christhannakamas: Open Thread.
Flagged comment:
Flagged by Timaeus, this comment by Brubs in, you guessed it, Bob Johnson's very popular diary.
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December 23, 2014
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