"o holy night" (general discussion of, s/d, c/d)

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

it came on in a restaurant earlier and i was all a-swoon. it's one of the only christmas carols i genuinely like as a piece of music. it's like a french military march, meant to be played adagio ma non troppo while trudging through a blinding snow.

whose version do you like best? eric cartman's? the arcade fire's? or this midi?

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:32 (twenty years ago)

Josh Groban does a nice version..

*runs*

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:34 (twenty years ago)

ha, that may have been the version i heard today!

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:36 (twenty years ago)

destroy: a capella versions. the chord changes are u&k.

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:40 (twenty years ago)

this is prob my favorite christmas carol (vince guaraldi aside). i like neil diamond's version best, i think.

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:44 (twenty years ago)

(vince guaraldi aside)

good call.

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:45 (twenty years ago)

(YSIs will be deeply appreciated btw)

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:51 (twenty years ago)

the version done by Esteban Buttez & The Italian Agnostic Choir of course

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!, Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:55 (twenty years ago)

esteban, do you like the VIENNA BOYZ KWIRE?

http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2HMDA6FPG2YHC2NUH6DTX9U011

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 07:55 (twenty years ago)

they aint no Esteban Buttez & The Expensive Chocolate Shop Assistants yo

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!, Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:01 (twenty years ago)

did the shop assistants do a version of this??

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:05 (twenty years ago)

no they only do acid rockabilly covers of peter gabriel and peter gabriel-era genesis

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!, Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:08 (twenty years ago)

Aaron Neville does a very Aaron Neville-y version, all velvet vibrato and stuff. My tolerance for Aaron Neville waxes and wanes, but at Christmas he sounds about right.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:13 (twenty years ago)

actually can someone YSI me neil diamond's version if they have it?

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:14 (twenty years ago)

christina aguilera's nu-gospel take on it is pretty awesome. alex in nyc would HATE it, heh heh.

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:17 (twenty years ago)

xtina
http://s45.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=24HQ377VS7RR42WL0DGS8C2I5E

don't have the neil diamond, sorry. i'd like a ysi of it too.

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:24 (twenty years ago)

Nat King Cole, devastating

http://s20.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=15MWU08WYXPZ72SQLBZ2Z5GBAH

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Sunday, 20 November 2005 08:39 (twenty years ago)

ruth welcome, bewitching

http://s43.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2UKDC2TDG9ASE3IGQEZE2JCCU3

http://www.bizarrerecords.com/pagesB/WelcomeWitch.jpg

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 09:02 (twenty years ago)

it's one of the only christmas carols i genuinely like as a piece of music.

I find this a bit shocking, since I think there are so many great Christmas carols.

I vaguely remember singing this in church choir and finding it pretty challenging. (But what I think I actually remember in particularly was having to singing the be in "abiding" as a "p" in order for it to sound right.)

Oh wait, I've got to download that Nat King Cole as well. Thanks for all th YSIs people.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 20 November 2005 13:56 (twenty years ago)

I used to hear a version at home by a singer I can't identify now, and it was very strident and good. I like the Nat King Cole version but it's a little smoother than I think the song calls for.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 20 November 2005 14:02 (twenty years ago)

I find this a bit shocking, since I think there are so many great Christmas carols.

i'll bite... which ones do you like?

― j b goddamnfucking r (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 16:08 (twenty years ago)

I vaguely remember singing this in church choir and finding it pretty challenging.

that high note at the end is pretty "step aside, bitch."

― j b goddamnfucking r (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 20 November 2005 16:34 (twenty years ago)

MANTAR (solo project of M. Ritchey of The Badger King, Dear Nora, etc) recorded a lovely version, though apparently she could not be bothered to look up the lyrics.

Here's the MP3

― Charming Tedious, Sunday, 20 November 2005 17:03 (twenty years ago)

This sounds incredible sung by a huge choir - the "fall on your knees" bit especially. Love it.

― Cracks (Crackity), Sunday, 20 November 2005 17:57 (twenty years ago)

(JBR, I am not ignoring your question, but I want to make a list of several examples.)

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 20 November 2005 18:01 (twenty years ago)

Occasionally, I'll consider it a classic... Usually, though, I'd go with Dud because I like my Christmas music a bit happier...
I like the version done by any local elementary school choir...

― Tape Store (Tape Store), Sunday, 20 November 2005 18:04 (twenty years ago)

Jackie Wilson and Al Green both do pretty good versions.

― TRG (TRG), Sunday, 20 November 2005 18:08 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

Michael Crawford also has an awsome version. He can really hit the high & the low notes required for this piece.

― mark william, Monday, 5 December 2005 08:35 (twenty years ago)

I find this a bit shocking, since I think there are so many great Christmas carols.

my other favorite is "carol of the bells", although i had to do a little googling to find out the title of it. (did destiny's child really retitle their version "opera of the bells"? how pretentious.)

― mies van der rohffle (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 5 December 2005 08:47 (twenty years ago)

NO ONE BEATS THE CARTMAN VERSION

― Seth, Thursday, 15 December 2005 15:39 (twenty years ago)

I've got a great live version by John Fahey from the 70s. I'll try to dig that out...

― Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 15 December 2005 15:55 (twenty years ago)

I was looking for the lyrics online and found these lines:

"Long lay the world in sin and error pining/Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth."

I always thought it was "abiding" and not "pining."

But the interesting thing is that second line. I always thought it was "and the soul felt his worth [i.e., Jesus's]," sort of an intuition of his divinity. But if this line is correct, it's even more curious. It seems awfully humanistic (and possibly New Age) in a way, the soul feeling its worth. Theologically, it seems a bit liberal. (Why pass over the conviction of sinful wretchedness as a step in regeneration?)

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:08 (twenty years ago)

Okay, the Fahey track's from the 80s, and it's a "We Three Kings of Orient Are/It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" medley. I've got a mind like a steel sieve.

― Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:38 (twenty years ago)

ok how does a "find in page" search NOT produce "Bing" OR "Crosby" FFS

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Thursday, 15 December 2005 17:10 (twenty years ago)

Perhaps "til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth" refers to the value a person realises they hold in God's eyes, demonstrated by the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus for our sake.

― Rachelle R, Monday, 26 December 2005 10:48 (twenty years ago)

It just feels to me that, theologically, it's missing an intermediate step: the conviction of one's sinfulness. (I'm just saying. I'm not a Christian myself, but I have some first-hand familiarity with the stuff.)

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Monday, 26 December 2005 14:29 (twenty years ago)

Here in Scandinavia, the sort of definitive version is generally considered to be by Swedish opera singer Jussi Björling, recording the song in 1959 (one year prior to his death) under its Swedish title "O Helga Natt"

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 27 December 2005 04:48 (twenty years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.