As evidence, I offer last night's adventuring (which is probably the only time Christmas caroling has ever involved trespassing for me): At first, I was doing pretty well, holding my own. In fact, they let me hold the music. So whenever we finished the first verse, I would switch songs, the guitar player would start the next song, and I knew all the words. Soon, though, it became obvious that, of my many skills, holding still is not one of them. So, at the behest of Guitar Guy, I was replaced as music holder.
At the next house, we sang "What Child is This?" a song which, I'm pretty sure, everybody loves but only kinda sorta knows the words. After struggling through the verse, we got to the chorus (aka the part I kinda know), and then--to my horror--jumped straight into verse two. Verse two???
Speaking of verse two, "Silent Night" has a verse two, too. One of the lines in verse two is glories stream from heavens afar. I could have sworn that the line was glories stream from heavens above. You know how when you start singing the wrong word you just kinda switch to the right word in the middle? Well, I do that at least, so several times last night I definitely sang glories stream from heaven's a bar.
Anyway, even though I don't really know them, I really love the other verses of Christmas carols. It's probably just because those songs are really well written in general, and since I haven't heard verse three of "O Holy Night" 72 000 times in my life, I actually listen to the words. The words to verse three (or two, depending who you talk to) of "O Holy Night," by the way, are:
- Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
- With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
- So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
- Here come the wise men from Orient land.
- The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
- In all our trials born to be our friend.
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- He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,
- Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
- Behold your King, Behold your King.
plj
2 comments:
wow, i got a link! Stoked.
um, if i can find a way to record it, merry christmas to you.
ok, you've heard my rant about the ignored verses already. maybe i should post about it...procrastinate on finals studying!
I went to a church with my Aunt and Uncle around the time you wrote this. Now it wasn't their church, it was a church that had asked my Uncle to lead worship for them because my Uncle is a really talented musician. Well, as the Christmas season was beginning, he decided to sing carols all morning (I think he has a special place in his heart for carols anyway, because that is his wife's name: Carol.) After a few carols he said that he was giving all of us homework--we obviously had not come prepared. It was like we had started reading the assigned work, but gave up after the first verse and that was all we knew entering church. So he told us that sometime that week we needed to find a hymnal and read all the verses to the carols. "Because they are wonderful. You've never heard a more clear presentation of the Gospel than in the verses following the firsts of carols."
So that's what I did in church instead of listening to the message.
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