Favorite Christmas Hymn

[pres2032]

[mcscajun]

1. The Christians and the Pagans

...by Dar Williams. :)

[Kenneth ken]

16. YAY!

[mourningdove92]

2. Do You Hear What I Hear?

[Liberal Veteran]

3. I can't believe you didn't add "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"!

Actually Carol of the Bells is my favorite.

[njdemocrat106]

4. Tie! "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "O Come All Ye Faithful"

Tough choice!

[Timebound]

5. Carol of the Bells :) n/t

[tuvor]

20. You probably don't like every version, though.

Someone else at DU posted it first. If you're offended, uh, blame him or her.

http://load.pquinn.com/binaries/fries/

[flamingyouth]

6. O Holy Night

I'll never forget my friend and sorority sister Rosetta singing that song each year at our holiday party. She has the most amazing voice and has sung with the Seattle Opera.

[Momgonepostal]

7. "What Child is This?" nt

[Eugene]

8. We Three Kings of Orient Are

[Xipe Totec]

9. Posadas!

Procession goes from door to door. It's a representation of the search for shelter by Joseph and Mary on holy night:

En el nombre del cielo,
os pido posadas,
pues no puede andar,
mi Señora amada...

In the name of heaven,
I ask thee for shelter,
for my beloved wife,
can go no further...

[Beaverhausen]

10. O Little Town of Bethlehem gets to me for some reason

and I'm not even a christian type person.

[Rowdyboy]

11. "Good King Wenceslas"

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/o/goodking.htm

[Lenape85]

12. None

[CatBoreal]

13. The Huron Carol with

Go Tell It on the Mountain - Mahalia Jackson a close second.

I'd say Dar William's Christians and the Pagans, but that isn't really a hymn.

[lpbk2713]

14. Either O Holy Night or Ave Maria sung by Perry Como.

Christmas just isn't the same for me without a Perry Como special on TV now.

[LiviaOlivia]

15. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

Henry Wadworth Longfellow


I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th' unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

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."

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

22. John Gorka wrote a beutiful setting to that poem...

Of them all, I think it's my favorite.

[Kenneth ken]

17. I kinda like the

Glooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrooooooooorrrrroooooooooooooorrrrriiaaaaaa

song.

reminds me vaguely of Van Morrison :)

[MessiahRp]

18. Tough call...

I went with Angels We Have Heard on High but there are a lot of terrific choices there.

Just a sidenote. My Kindergartener son, Chris, had his elementary school Christmas concert two nights ago. During the concert (this is a public school) there were songs about Jesus but also three songs about Hanukkah and one about Kwanzaa (although I'm not even sure if there are any Jewish kids in the school and there was only one black girl in the concert... not even in the grade that did the Kwanzaa song).

Now... my thoughts rolled through quickly. I was peeved at religion in the public school but didn't want the other cultures to lose the teachings of their holidays. I guess I want Christmas in school to be presented as a time of goodwill towards others and based off the myth of Santa (aka the Commercialized non-relgious Christmas) rather than the religious version. I kind of felt like we could remove all christian songs and in turn remove the Jewish songs (although is Kwanzaa religious or just an ethnic cultural holiday?) and go with some Santa classics or something.

Of course I also didn't like that the kids sung totally unrelated songs to the holiday ("I'm a Little Teapot" and "My Favorite Things"), but that's a different story.

I enjoyed the concert, the children were terrific, but there was some distubing feelings about the inclusion of religion in a public school concert.

What do you guys think?

Rp

[tuvor]

19. What Child Is This?

Maybe it's the minor key, or maybe it's because it's not the "showiest" of Christmas hymns. Not sure, but it's always been one of the very few I actually enjoy listening to.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

21. Can't name a favorite

I like them all more or less