Bible Discussions/Resources/Holidays
By Summer Lane
Photo: Deposit
The surest way to know that Christmas is here is by the music that’s played, day in and day out, in every retail store and radio station: from “White Christmas” to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” in America, the holiday season is marked loudly and proudly by classic Christmas tunes that have captured the nation for decades.
The majority of the “classic” Christmas music that we know and love emerged during the 1940s and 1950s, as America was recovering from the devastating bloodshed and tumult of World War II. The post-war era launched a period of sentimentalism and nostalgia – a desire to return to the simplicity and beauty of Christmas. During this era, music like “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Let It Snow,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” rose to popularity – and they are still popular today, perhaps more than ever before!
However, even these fun Christmas “classics” are far younger than the traditional Christmas hymns that were born during the Victorian Era (the mid-to-late 1800s). Holiday music as we know it is rooted in deeply Christian and Jewish traditions. According to Cape Symphony, Christmas hymns first appeared in the 12th Century, when a Parisian monk added holiday-themed lyrics to popular songs, thus creating early versions of “carols”:
Books of Christmas music were bestsellers in 19th century England, popularizing such now-familiar tunes as “The First Noel” (sometimes spelled “Nowell”) and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” American composers made significant contributions to more secular Christmas songs in the mid-twentieth century, many of which contributed new aspects to holiday rituals (such as a certain red-nosed reindeer). In 1942, Bing Crosby recorded an Irving Berlin song that became the world’s best-selling single of all time: “White Christmas…”
Cape May Magazine also notes that most of the popular Christmas carols you know today were written during the reign of Queen Elizabeth of England – a period of time when America was undergoing the Civil War, Emancipation, and Reconstruction:
Christmas carols had evolved in Europe over centuries as secular and religious music. Victorians revived interest in Christmas carols, collecting and printing many older ones. Tunes associated with them were out of style, so new ones were written. Some melodies were taken from folk songs; others were newly composed.
Some of the music we know now was also brought forth into the general public arena by newly freed slaves in America. Tunes like “Go Tell It On the Mountain” were first introduced in 1871 by the Jubilee Singers, as they traveled to raise money for a university (Fisk University) that they hoped would be an educational institution for all people of all races, per Cape May.
The music that we celebrate has been echoing throughout the centuries, cheerfully sung by generations of jubilant holiday-goers who have long recognized the reason for the season: the birth of Jesus Christ! The songs we sing remind us of our childhoods and our faith journeys. The carols and Christmas hymns of the ages tell not just the story of the Gospel, but it’s an annual reminder of the miracle of His birth and the good news that we have all been given the free gift of salvation!
This Christmas, don’t be afraid to blast those Christmas songs in the car. The songs we listen to is a form of generational storytelling – a passing down of tradition and story and nostalgia to the next generation. Let’s embrace it together!
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!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of 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!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
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.”
Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, 1867
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Summer Lane is the #1 bestselling author of 30 books, including the hit Collapse Series and Resurrection Series. She is an experienced journalist and editor who is covering the White House and Trump administration. She owns Write Revolution News.
Summer is also a mom and wife who enjoys rural country living, herding cats, and gardening. She is passionate about writing on women’s issues, parenting, and politics from a theologically-grounded perspective that points readers to the good news of the gospel.
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