Christmas music

Christmas Songs Book Tag

Mei-Mei8 Comments

I absolutely adore Christmas music (though I only listen from Thanksgiving to New Years haha), so I was excited to come across this tag on Madame Writer’s blog.  It was originally by The Artsy Reader Girl.

1. “All I Want for Christmas Is You”: Favorite bookish couple.

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I have a lot of favorite book couples, including Lizzy and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice and Eowyn and Faramir from LOTR.  But this said “bookish,” which makes me think nerdy, so I’m going to go with Anne and Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables.  Among other things, their relationship is built on academic rivalry.  This image is from the marvelous 1980s Canadian TV adaptation starring Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie.  One of my favorite scenes is where Gilbert gives Anne a standing ovation after she recites “The Highwayman.”  He’s always so proud of Anne’s intelligence and her hard work.

2. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”: Name a book where a character is away from home (school, vacation, etc.).

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Jane, Unlimited is a unique speculative fiction story that relies on a classic premise: an orphan travels to a strange mansion.  Very gothic!  Jane is visiting Tu Reviens, the large and intriguing island home of her friend Kiran, where everything from art theft to alternate dimensions may be happening.  The premise is reminiscent of Jane Eyre as well as Rebecca, but spins off into an interesting type of choose-your-own-adventure story.

 

3. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”: Name your favorite “little” book (children’s book, short story, novella, etc.).

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Ella Enchanted, a classic middle grade Cinderella tale, is one of the books that inspired my love of fairy tale retellings.  It is on the bookshelf next to my bed, along with 101 Great American Poems, which I think was a gift from my mother about fifteen years ago when I was in high school.  I have read both countless times, and they are great for when I want a quick, satisfying read before bed.

4. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”: What book(s) do you hope Santa brings you this year?

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I have a lot of books on my wishlist, and my family always gets me lots of books for Christmas.  One I’m really looking forward to is Daemon Voices, a collection of essays by the author of His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman.

5. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”: Which book turned your nose red (made you cry)?

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I scared my husband when I was reading The Book Thief because he looked over to see me silently sobbing with huge tears rolling down my face.  “What’s wrong?!” he said.  Oh nothing, just this book broke my heart into pieces.  What a beautiful, powerful book.  Narrated by Death, it’s the story of a young girl in Nazi Germany who steals books.

6. “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”: Your favorite book/kind of book to read during the holidays.

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In my Seasonal Reads blog series, I mentioned that I frequently read The Dark is Rising during December.  It’s full of both warm and cozy Christmas cheer as well as ominous Yuletide magic.  I love the whole series, but this one in particular is my favorite.  I also love Christmas cozy mysteries and Regency romances.

7. “We Three Kings”: Your favorite trilogy.

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I’m going classic for this one: Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, which I first read in high school, right when the movies were coming out.  It’s still one of my favorite series.  Trilogies are very standard nowadays, especially for YA fantasy, and I think that can be traced back in part to LOTR.

8. “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow”: A character you would love to be snowed in with.

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David Suchet as Poirot

If I were snowed in, I would want Hercule Poirot of Agatha Christie’s mystery series to be one of the party.  Because inevitably there would be a murder, and then we could rely on Poirot to solve it!  I’m imagining something like the premise to Christie’s play The Mousetrap, which places a bunch of guests trapped in a manor inn together.  But luckily Poirot would be there to solve the crime before any further murders take place.  Plus Poirot is just a genial guy.

9. “Last Christmas”: A book that seriously let you down.

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Sometimes I hear about YA books that are getting a lot of hype and figure I should check them out.  Spoiler alert: they don’t always live up to the hype.  That’s how I felt about Snow like Ashes and An Ember in the Ashes (maybe I should just avoid books about ashes?).  The first books in the series were fine, but nothing spectacular, and the follow-ups got less interesting so that I didn’t continue on with either series.

10. “White Christmas”: An upcoming release you’re dreaming about.

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Well, I don’t believe that The Winds of Winter will be released next year, and Peace Talks also doesn’t have a release date as far as I know, but there are a bunch of YA fantasy book by favorite authors coming out next, including King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo.  I’m also looking forward to The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders (sci-fi) and A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay (historical fantasy).

 

Do you guys have favorite Christmas song?  I love all the old carols, especially obscure ones or ones in foreign languages.  And my favorite Christmas album is John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together.

And on Earth, peace to men of goodwill (via John Denver and the Muppets)

Mei-Mei5 Comments

Around this time of year, the sounds of the season are constantly playing in my house and car: Celtic Woman, Straight No Chaser, Pentatonix, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and many others are regulars in my playlist.  I love all Christmas music, but my very favorite album is this: the sadly-rather-obscure John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together.

We had this album on vinyl when I was a kid, and I learned to use the record player just to be able to play it. It has some darling versions of classic Christmas songs:

  • The Twelve Days of Christmas (BA DUM BUM BUM)
  • Little Saint Nick by Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem (RUN RUN REINDEER)
  • We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Piggy pudding?!?)
  • Silent Night in both German and English, with a brief history of the song

There are also wonderful original songs, most of which I’ve never heard covered by anyone else, which is a shame:

  • The Peace Carol (beautiful flute part)
  • When the River Meets the Sea (more beautiful flute)
  • A Baby Just Like You (can you tell I play flute?)
  • Noel: Christmas Eve, 1913

This last one is my favorite track on the album.  It is a solo by John Denver–no Muppets, therefore less interesting to me as a kid.  But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found it to be one of the most meaningful Christmas songs I know.  The lyrics are adapted from a poem of the same name by Robert Bridges (which is now in the public domain).

Noel: Christmas Eve 1913

Robert Bridges, 1844 – 1930

Pax hominibus bonae voluntatis 

A frosty Christmas Eve 
   when the stars were shining
Fared I forth alone 
   where westward falls the hill,
And from many a village 
   in the water’d valley
Distant music reach’d me 
   peals of bells aringing:
The constellated sounds 
   ran sprinkling on earth’s floor
As the dark vault above 
   with stars was spangled o’er.
Then sped my thoughts to keep 
   that first Christmas of all
When the shepherds watching 
   by their folds ere the dawn
Heard music in the fields 
   and marveling could not tell
Whether it were angels 
   or the bright stars singing.

Now blessed be the tow’rs 
   that crown England so fair
That stand up strong in prayer 
   unto God for our souls
Blessed be their founders 
   (said I) an’ our country folk
Who are ringing for Christ 
   in the belfries to-night
With arms lifted to clutch 
   the rattling ropes that race
Into the dark above 
   and the mad romping din.

But to me heard afar 
   it was starry music
Angels’ song, comforting 
   as the comfort of Christ
When he spake tenderly 
   to his sorrowful flock:
The old words came to me 
   by the riches of time
Mellow’d and transfigured 
   as I stood on the hill
Heark’ning in the aspect 
   of th’ eternal silence.
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Photo by Jacek Mleczek on Pexels.com

The song distills it beautifully into three shorter stanzas:

A frosty Christmas Eve, when the stars where shining
I traveled forth alone, where westward falls the hill
And for many, many a village, in the darkness of the valley
Distant music reached me, peals of bells were ringing.

Then spread my thoughts to olden times, to that first of Christmases
When shepherds who were watching, heard music in the fields
And they sat there and they marveled, and they knew they could not tell
Whether it were angels, or the bright stars a-singing

But to me heard a far, it was starry music
The singing of the angels, the comfort of our Lord
Words of old that come a traveling, by the riches of the times
And I softly listened, as I stood upon the hill
And I softly listened, as I stood upon the hill

person walking on snowy path between coniferous trees
Photo by Gantas Vaiu010diulu0117nas on Pexels.com

Because you probably just skipped reading that wall of text, I’ll sum up.  The narrator is out walking and hears the church bells ringing for Christmas.  The music, seeming to come from the sky, reminds him of how the angels appeared singing to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus.  He feels their words (Pax hominibus bonae voluntatis = peace to men of goodwill) speaking to him through the Christmas bells.

It’s a beautiful sentiment, and one that gets at the heart of the Christmas season.  It’s a time to pause and appreciate what we have, the beauty of nature and humanity, and let peace fill out hearts, even at the darkest time of year.

So to all you people of goodwill, I wish you peace–now and throughout the year to come.