(If you’d like to read the other days, you can do so by clicking here. Don’t forget I’m making a playlist in Spotify as we go through this series, you can subscribe to here.)
Today we pick up with the theme of waiting and move in a similar direction of seeking. Granted, one of our songs should probably be considered more of an Epiphany song than a Christmas song, we still enjoy listening to it at Christmas.
Waiting and traveling are still big theme for Christmas. We spend a lot of time in the car, on our way to Christmas parties, looking at lights, concerts and other events. So, as you travel this Christmas, you can at least feel a little better about it. It’s as much a part of the holidays as anything.
Written by John Jacob Niles. It started as a poem in 1933. The song has a unique history, which you can read on wikipedia. It was originally published in 1934 in “Songs of the Hill Folk.”
Todays’ version of the song comes from someone who has come up with his own Christmas sound, and has been very successful at doing so. Harry Connick Jr. has a unique musical style as well as unique sound as an arranger/composer. You’ll have to listen in the Spotify playlist to hear it as I couldn’t find a video.
This is a song I had a little bit of fun with on my Christmas Album, “When The Snow Falls” which is available on iTunes. I played Trombone in high school, and had a lot of fun doing so. However, I haven’t played it as much as I wanted to in recent years, so I decided to get it out use it on a couple of tracks on the album.
From Wikipedia:
“Written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., who wrote both the lyrics and the music. It is suggested to have been written in 1857 but did not appear in print until his Carols, Hymns and Song in 1863. John Henry Hopkins, Jr., then an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church, was instrumental in organizing an elaborate holiday pageant (which featured this hymn) for the students of the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1857 while serving as the seminary’s music director.”
The song, written by Katherine Davis in 1941 was originally known as “Carol of the Drum.” Todays version of the song by the Harry Simeon Chorale is a classic and is largely responsible for bring the level of acclaim to the song.
