Just over a week to go to Christmas, and churches will be preparing for their carol services. Technically, there is a difference between a Christmas carol and a Christmas hymn, but I’ve never been able to definitively put my finger on which is which. As a rule of thumb, I think that songs that tell a story – such as While Shepherds Watched or Good King Wenceslas – are probably carols while those that are more worship-based – such as Hark the Herald Angels and O Come All Ye Faithful – are probably hymns. There are also Easter carols, but let’s leave those for a few months.
Some carols/hymns I like more than others. The Holly and the Ivy, for example, has always struck me as a collection of rather tenuous links.
Many carols have well known alternative lyrics. Shepherds eating fish and chips or angels giving almighty sneezes in While Shepherds Watched; cars with faulty lights in We Three Kings; and beer shortages in The First Nowell (“No ale, no stout, all beer sold out; born is the king with his short hanging out”).
Here is a short selection of some of my favourite carols.
Silent Night, judging by the number of versions I have (six), is the most recorded carol. The popular story is that this was penned overnight by a priest after he discovered that mice had eaten through the organ mechanism. This story is probably more fable than truth – unlike the arm amputation incident that led to the line “the arm of flesh will fail you” in Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus (honest – look it up).
This version is by Nick Lowe. You make like it or loath it – but you have to admit, it’s different.
The next is a relatively modern carol, that I came across only a couple of years ago. It has quickly become one of my favourites.
For a long time I had a problem with the lyrics of In the Bleak midwinter. OK, the final verse is great but “in the bleak mid-winter”? Really? When was there ever a bleak winter in the Holy Land that froze water as hard as iron? And even if there were, what sort of muppet would call a plebiscite in the middle of it. Oh, er, hang on …
But then the penny dropped. It’s not a physical winter the song is about: it’s an allegory. It wasn’t the weather that was cold, it was the relationship between God and humanity.
Well, I couldn’t be a bell ringer if I didn’t include this carol. It also reminds me how my childhood village church shared a vicar with the neighbouring village. At Christmas both churches would join congregations for the carol services. One church traditionally sang the chorus line twice while the other sang it only once, resulting in much confusion.
Many carols have a standard metre – they have the same number of beats per line as many other songs. This means that they can be easily sung to other tunes. Fans of I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue may recognise this game as “one song to the tune of another”.
So I will leave you with While Shepherd’s Watched to the tune of Ilkley Moor.
We had traditional carols with traditional tunes but in a different environment. The chapel has only one wall, a tropical downpour hissed and gurgled outside, moths were attracted by the lights and bats followed them. ‘Oh, little star…’ it’s not a star, its a firefly.
‘What is snow really like?’ we are asked. ‘What does deep and crisp and even mean?’
‘I do love the story of your baby Jesus,’ a muslim friend confessed.
There are few tourists here. There were just eight white faces in a congregation of 400.
‘Who’s that on the cross, looks like a Sri Lankan and he doesn’t have a beard. Why is he in a mangrove swamp and not on a greenhill? ‘ It was a great scandal when the reredos was painted but now accepted as a major work of art.
The medium might be different but the message is the same.
Wonderful post, Chippy. Many thanks. In The Bleak Midwinter is my favourite carol. I love both “standard” tunes to it but Holst is by far and away my favourite. Thanks for the nod to Clue. I am a huge fan and the one song to the tune of another is one of my favourite rounds. The Nick Lowe version of Silent Night is interesting. Not come across that before but I’ve always liked his music. (Have you ever heard his colleague Dave Edmunds’ version of the Sabre Dance played on guitar? It is amazing musicianship though not necessarily a hit with classical fans. I love DE’s AND the classical version of it). We had our Carols evening at our church last night where the village comes to the church basically. Someone always chooses Ding Dong. I find that more of a challenge than a carol. Being asthmatic I have to take at least one breath during the Gloria but there you go!
Nick Lowe has also done a version of “I wish it could be Christmas every day”.
The “Ilkley Moor” tune you mention for “While Shepherds Watched” is actually called “Cranbrook” and was composed by Thomas Clark, a shoemaker from Canterbury, and published in 1805; the words are from the supplement to the new version of the Psalms of David by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, published in 1696.
There are more than 300 tunes known to have been used for “While Shepherds Watched” in the 18th and 19th centuries, with many villages having their own version.
If you were to come to the Madding Crowd’s concert in Hyde Parish Hall in Winchester on Friday 3rd January at 7:30 p.m., you might hear six of those tunes, plus Cranbrook.
Tickets and information are available via http://www.visitwinchester.co.uk/event/yuletideconcert/
I was in the audience a few years back when the Madding Crowd performed at Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church. It was fascinating, from the costume to the music….. and it’s a wonderful experience. All the songs were so different, and they carry a sense of purity.
I love the traditional carols and Lucy Worsley has recently been on TV with a programme about the history of carols. She visited the village where Silent Night was composed by the local priest.
It was excellent and worth seeking out on “catch up”
Thank you for this site which I visit now and again , lurking in the shadows !
Nick Lowe’s version is a resounding ‘No’!
I quite like it!
So do I Chippy … a bit of ‘life’ about it !