Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas
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It remains a mystery how this hymn became known as a Christmas carol. Inspired by Old Testament Scripture—with no words alluding to the birth of Jesus other than the phrase, “the Lord is come”—“Joy to the World!” would seem to be a song for all seasons, something to be sung in July as much as December. Nevertheless, for some reason Americans embraced “Joy to the World!” as a holiday standard. Perhaps, because of its jubilant spirit, it just “felt” like a Christmas song!
“Joy to the World!” is one of today’s most loved Christmas carols. Yet because it does not use as its inspiration anything from the first four gospels of the New Testament, it also stands as a unique non-Christmas Christmas standard. Perhaps that is fitting, since both Isaac Watts and Lowell Mason strove to push the envelope in order to get people to see Scripture and music in a whole new way. Watts and Mason knew, and we should remember, that Christians should exude joy each and every day because the “Lord is come.”
19
MARY, DID YOU KNOW?
No Christmas song written in the past three decades has provoked the kind of response that “Mary, Did You Know?” has. Buddy Green’s simple and touching melody certainly deserves some of the credit for the song’s popularity and acceptance, but most people who hear the song are really drawn to the unique perspective found in Mark Lowry’s dynamic lyrics. Yet this song’s gift to the world might have been lost forever if a set of loving parents had not chosen to believe in the promise and potential God placed in their child.
Mark Lowry is one of the most interesting personalities in gospel music. A singer with the Gaither Vocal Band, a humorist, and a songwriter, Mark never stops moving. He seems to have the energy of three fifth graders and the curiosity of a dozen four-year-old children. Probably because the Lord knows the world couldn’t handle more than one Mark Lowry at a time, there is no one like him. One observer called Lowry a “raccoon in human form” and everyone wonders how his parents ever kept up with him. Yet it is his parents, once run ragged by Mark’s energy, that deserve a big part of the credit for this man’s greatest song.
Mark started singing almost before he learned to talk. As a preschooler he was already belting out solos in the grade school choir. By third grade he was singing the lead part in the Easter musical. Yet even though he constantly seemed to be in the school spotlight and living in the perfect American family environment at home, there were rough waters and some tough times just ahead.
Mark stood out in teachers’ eyes for more than his singing; he was often a problem in the classroom. During his first years of elementary school, Lowry was diagnosed as hyperactive and placed on medication. At about that same time it became apparent that the boy had absolutely no athletic ability. To many adults and kids, Mark appeared to be little more than an energetic klutz—an out of control mini-tornado. Rather than allow their son to be sidetracked and dismissed as a hopeless cause, Mark’s parents made sure that this “curse” was looked at as a blessing. They emphasized the positive.
The Lowrys assured Mark that God had a plan for his life and that his uniqueness was a part of it. Instead of trying to make him act just like all the other kids, the Lowrys allowed Mark to exploit his curiosity and his energy. He loved performing, so they put him on every stage that would take him—everything from church programs to community musicals. It was at the National Quartet Convention where Lowry not only received his biggest break but also his calling.
At the convention Lowry sang in front of fifteen thousand gospel music fans. The audience couldn’t get enough of him. They loved everything about the funny, talented kid. Seeing the potential that once only his folks had seen, Benson Records signed Mark. Over the next few years he cut inspirational albums with the likes of the London Symphony Orchestra and was so busy with his musical career that he had to finish junior high and high school via correspondence courses.
In 1984, Mark was living in Houston. Feeling blessed to have Lowry in his flock, Mark’s pastor asked him to write the program for the living Christmas tree choir presentation. The group traditionally sang familiar holiday carols, so Lowry’s job was to write the bridges that connected one song to another. It was while he was working on the project that Mark considered what it would have been like to have been Jesus’ mother.
“When I wrote this thing about Mary,” Mark explained, “I began by thinking I was interviewing her on her thoughts of being a mother to Jesus. A couple of the lines I wrote really stood out, like ‘when you kiss your little baby, you’ve kissed the face of God.’ I just thought this needed to be a song.”
Keeping the perspective of a reporter doing a story on Jesus from Mary’s viewpoint, Mark penned a poem that sent chills up his spine. Still, taking those powerful lyrics and turning them into a full-blown song was a bigger challenge than even he could have expected. Although he gave the words to a solid music writer, he wasn’t happy with the results; the melody didn’t have the right feel. Filing “Mary, Did You Know?” away, Mark decided to wait on the Lord’s timing rather than put his lyrics to music that failed to move him.
In 1988, after Gary McSpadden left the Gaither Vocal Band, Bill Gaither was looking for a replacement to fill the void in his quartet. After watching a video of Mark Lowry onstage, not only was Gaither impressed with Mark’s singing, he thought the young man could bring a great deal of Christian humor to the group’s performances. When Bill called, Mark packed his bags.
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know, that your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered, will soon deliver you.
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy
Will give sight to the blind man?
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy
Would calm a storm with His hand?
Did you know, that your baby boy
Has walked where angels trod
And when you kiss your little baby, you’ve kissed the face of God?
Oh, Mary, did you know?
Mary, did you know?
The blind will see, the deaf will hear,
The dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak
Praises of the Lamb?
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know, that your baby boy
Will one day rule the nations?
Did you know, that your baby boy
Was Heaven’s perfect Lamb
And this sleeping Child you’re holding
Is the Great I Am
Oh, Mary.
Mark had been with the band for two years when Buddy Green joined them. A talented musician, Buddy was also a songwriter who was beginning to hit stride and produce some very strong work. Mark decided to share “Mary, Did You Know?” with Buddy.
Rather than pull Green to one side and share the story behind the song, Mark wrote a short note over the top of the lyrics: Buddy, here are some God-inspired words. Please add some beautiful music and make it a profitable hit. The memo was meant as a joke, but Green took both the note and his job seriously. He set the lyrics aside for a couple of weeks, then went to work. When he finished, he called Mark on the phone and sang the song to him. Lowry loved it and within a week they had put together a “jam box” demo to give to one of their favorite artists.
Their pick for the song was impressed as well. When “Mary, Did You Know?” was originally cut by Christian sensation Michael English, the writing duo felt blessed, but they really didn’t expect anyone else to jump on the band-wagon. Then country singer Kathy Mattea heard the Lowry-Green number and recorded it next. Scores of other acts quickly took the song into the studio, including Natalie Cole. Thanks to this exposure, “Mary, Did You Know?” was soon adopted by choirs and soloists. Even President Bill C
linton declared it was his favorite Christmas song. For the first time in decades, a new Christmas song had become an important facet of traditional holiday celebrations. For the first time ever, southern gospel music had given the world a Christmas carol.
There can be no doubt that Mark Lowry was born different. The things that make him unique—his energy and his curiosity—could have held him back like so many others. He could have been forced to conform, to be like everyone else. Yet because his problems were viewed as gifts by his parents, Mark thrived. Looking at the world through his unique, God-given perspective led him to think of one of the world’s most familiar stories in a new light. “Mary, Did You Know?” a song like no other Christmas carol ever penned, written about a mother like no other, came from the hand of a man like no other.
20
O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL
O Come, All Ye Faithful” has been sung in churches of all denominations for almost two hundred years and sung in Catholic masses for much longer. In the past century it has been recorded hundreds of times by some of the greatest entertainers in history. It is even one of the few traditional religious carols to land on the record charts, making it to the top ten three times. It has been translated into more than 150 languages, used in thousands of cantatas and musical productions, and called by some critics “the greatest carol ever written.” It is amazing, therefore, that the song’s author remained unknown until just after World War II.
For several hundred years it was believed that the person who wrote “O Come, All Ye Faithful” was an unknown cleric from the Middle Ages or even before. Legend had it that Saint Bonaventura had penned the words. So it came as quite a shock when English scholar Maurice Frost discovered seven “O Come, All Ye Faithful” transcripts written by hand and signed by an English Catholic priest named John Francis Wade. How Wade’s authorship of this great carol remained unknown for more than two hundred years is a mystery that may never be solved, yet the story behind how the Catholic cleric came to write “O Come, All Ye Faithful” is one of adventure.
John Wade was a man of God caught in the middle of a Holy War. In 1745, at the age of thirty-five, Wade’s life was on the line. Strife between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic church was at an all-time high. Many practicing Catholics were forced to take their faith underground. To avoid prison or death, many priests fled Britain, including John Wade. He made his way to Douay, France, where, in a city inundated by English Catholics and those who opposed the British royal family, Wade was given an important job. Since many Catholic Church records were lost during the conflict in England, Wade was to research and identify historical church music, then carefully record and preserve it for future generations. The man took his job very seriously, leaving no stone unturned in his efforts to save anything of historical or spiritual value. Little could he have realized just how profound and long-reaching his work would be.
A calligrapher by training, as well as a skilled musician, Wade saved not only historical church songs, he then organized and distributed them to Catholic churches throughout Europe. Through his beautifully detailed drawings and manuscripts, the priest reintroduced many forgotten songs to masses across France and beyond.
Wade reclaimed old pieces but also was inspired to write new hymns. As a Catholic cleric, it was only natural that he compose his new works in Latin. In or around 1750, Wade put the finishing touches on what would become his most famous tune, “Adeste Fideles.” He published it in his own book, Cantus Diversi, the next year. A decade later he completed and put lyrics to his melody. Yet somehow, even though it was published at least two different times with John Wade credited as being the composer, credit for writing “Adeste Fideles” remained a mystery when Frederrick Oakeley translated the original lyrics into English in 1841. At about that time, many legends about the song’s author began to take seed, but none of them named John Wade.
In the 1800s, Saint Bonaventura somehow emerged as the original writer of the song. There may be at least some fact in this legend. It is possible that Wade came across the writings of Bonaventura when he was doing his work in France, and that Bonaventura’s songs might have inspired or influenced Wade’s work during this period.
The next—and often still repeated—legend began in London around 1860, when “O Come, All Ye Faithful” was performed in the Portuguese embassy. The organist, Vincent Novello, informed his audience that a man named John Redding had composed the melody. While Redding seemed to have taken credit for writing “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” Wade’s manuscripts, penned more than a century before Redding’s birth, completely void his claim. The song was, however, published by Redding and is often called the “Portuguese Hymn.” Because of this, many believed that the Englishman wrote the music, but that an unknown man from Portugal penned the words. The Bonaventura and Redding tales are just two of many that supposedly pin down the origins of “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
In America, as in most of the world, the song was adopted by many Christian churches before 1900. It was also one of the focal points of the caroling movement that swept the country. Mobile choirs, going from house to house singing songs of the Christmas season, always sang “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” More often than not, each performance closed with the mighty chorus.
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
Come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels:
Chorus:
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ, the Lord.
True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,
Lo, he shuns not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;
Chorus
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest:
Chorus
See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps:
Chorus
Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,
We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;
Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?
Chorus
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning,
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing:
Chorus
During the 1905 Christmas season, the greatest American vocal group of the period, the Peerless Quartet, recorded and released the carol. At a time when radio had yet to introduce music to the masses, thousands of copies of this Christmas single were sold. The single even hit number seven on the “National Hit Parade.” The only Christmas recording among the more than one hundred Peerless Quartet hit songs, “O Come, All Ye Faithful” became the group’s signature holiday anthem.
The world’s most famous Irish tenor, John McCormack, took John Wade’s carol to number two on the national playlists in 1915. A decade later the American Glee Club proved again that “O Come, All Ye Faithful” was still America’s favorite Christmas song. In a medium where very few Christian songs found universal favor, the song remained the most beloved holiday offering until Bing Crosby cut “White Christmas.” Of course, on that same album release, Crosby also placed his own version of “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” It was at that time that Maurice Frost finally sifted through all the legends and uncovered the song’s real writer, finally granting John Francis Wade the credit he so richly deserved.
Wade’s authorship and genius should be acknowledged. Even though he was living in a time of great conflict between various branches of the Christian Church, forced to give up the country he loved as a sacrifice of faith, and made to work long hours trying to preserve church records that others were attempting to erase for all time, Wade fully revelled in
his role as a servant of his Lord. In every word and verse of “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” the composer’s faith is not just verified, it is magnified. At a time when the church was literally at war, only someone who truly believed in the holiness of Christ could have written a carol that would bring all Christians together to the same place each Christmas—bowing before Christ the Lord!
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O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is probably the oldest Christmas carol still sung today. This popular hymn dates back to the ninth century and represents an important and ancient series of services celebrated by the Catholic church. It also presents the different biblical roles that the church believed Jesus fulfilled. The universal nature of faith presented in this song can now be best seen by the fact that it has crossed over from a hymn sung in Latin and used in only formal Catholic masses to a carol translated into scores of languages and embraced by every Christian denomination in the world.
The writer of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is unknown. He was no doubt a monk or priest who penned the words before 800 A.D. He was also a scholar with a rich knowledge of both the Old and New Testaments. Once completed, the hymn was evidently picked up by many European churches and monasteries and became an intensely important part of the church. Yet for fifty-one weeks of each year it was ignored, saved for a single week of Advent vespers leading up to the celebration of Christ’s birth.