'Tis the Season

Here's some more Christmas music to get you in the mood. This was great stuff... when I was five years old...

Let's start with this one, which currently has a high of fifteen "thumbs up" on YouTube, with one nonbeliever giving it a "thumbs down"...



Then of course, there is this classic, which by the way, has a whopping thirty-nine "thumbs up" on YouTube, with ZERO "thumbs down!" I'm pretty sure that 's some kind of record for a YouTube video. Feel free to sing along...



Before we conclude with one more song, here's a little history of this family calssic: This song you are about to hear was originally written in Latin, sometime in the later part of the first century A.D. For years, it was known only in isolated regions of southern and central parts of Europe.

It is believed to have originated as a personal mediation before slowly evolving over the coming centuries into an early Gregorian chant (circa 635 C.E.)  Eventually, it gained prominence as the centerpiece of annual sacred ceremonies; ceremonies which had first celebrated the winter solstice but later evolved into Christian celebrations. It was at these ceremonies where the chant would be sung daily, beginning with the day of the solstice and continuing until approximately January 15th (of our modern day calendar.)

For centuries, it remained almost entirely unchanged - and largely forgotten.

It wasn't until sometime around 1963 that the chant was finally translated into modern day English, where it was also put to music - becoming what we recognize today as the popular hymn which is still sung every holiday season, in churches all over the world. Enjoy.