From October to January, Christmas music is everywhere, whether we like it or not.
I don’t mind it too much–as long as there’s snow on the ground and Halloween is over, I can listen to Christmas music until New Year’s.
We hear the same songs every year, and sometimes we forget that there’s a story behind each tune. Just to help give the music a little more meaning, here are a few facts behind some of the most famous Christmas hymns.
Joy to the World
The lyrics were penned in 1719 by famous hymn writer Isaac Watts as an adaptation of Psalm 98. He wrote it as a poem titled “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom,” not quite written with Christmas in mind. Watts was thinking of the second coming of Jesus, not the Nativity, when he wrote the poem.
The music wasn’t added for over a century. In 1836, American composer Lowell Mason published the poem with music that he credited to fellow composer George Frideric Handle.
Silent Night
In 1818, German priest Joseph Mohr penned the lyrics and organist Franz Gruber set the tune to music. However, the church organ was damaged and the song had to be accompanied by a guitar for its debut at Christmas Eve mass that year.
Nearly a century later, in 1914, both German and English troops were camped out in trenches in Ypres during the First World War. On Christmas Eve, the two armies began singing Christmas carols across no man’s land together.
This led to the famous Christmas Truce of World War One, where both sides put away their weapons for a time and met each other on the battlefront in peace.
The truce didn’t last long, a few hours to a few days at best, but a few Christmas carols eased the horror of war, at least for a while.
Do You Hear What I Hear?
This tune is more modern, penned in 1962 by Noel Regney and his wife, Gloria Shaybe. The song was written in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, a plea for peace in the midst of a very uncertain time.
What Child is This?
In 1865, William Chatterton Dix, a manager at an insurance company in Great Britain, suffered a severe unexpected illness that left him bedridden.
His condition spiraled him into intense depression.
While recovering from his near-death experience and dealing with a load of mental health issues, Dix began reading the Bible to revive his spirits and was inspired to write several hymns from his bed, including the famous Christmas carol “What Child is This?”
The song was published six years later, and the music was inspired by the popular tune at the time, “Greensleeves.”
Dix survived his illness and passed away in 1898.
O Holy Night
This carol has a rich history, but most notably, it is the first song to ever be played over radio broadcast.
Written in 1843 by Placide Cappeau and Adolphe Adam, the song was a sore spot between different Christian denominations for many years.
On Christmas Eve 1906, Canadian inventor and radio specialist made his famous broadcast from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. He played the hymn over the radio on the violin, then followed it with a reading from the Bible.
His solo is credited as the first piece of music to ever be played over the air.
These songs are classic favorites we hear every year. Knowing a little more about what we sing and why these songs are so famous makes everything feel more special, even if we might get tired of hearing them over and over again.
Listen to the lyrics and get to know the stories behind the songs; maybe they won’t fade into the background as much as usual.
Have a wonderful Christmas, wherever you are and whoever you are with.