Sunday, December 7, 2008

Christmas music

During all my curtain hanging/ Christmas decorating I listened to some Christmas music. It's no secret that I love to listen to music, and sing. I have lots of Christmas favorites, but this one has to be near the top of the list. Click on #5 "A Stable Lamp is Lighted". The text is taken from a poem by Richard Wilbur.

A stable-lamp is lighted
Whose glow shall wake the sky;
The stars shall bend their voices,
And every stone shall cry.

And every stone shall cry,
And straw like gold shall shine;
A barn shall harbor heaven,
A stall become a shrine.

This child through David's city
Shall ride in triumph by;
The palm shall strew it's branches,
And every stone shall cry.

And every stone shall cry,
Though heavy, dull and dumb,
And lie within the roadway
To pave His kingdom come.

Yet He shall be forsaken,
And yielded up to die;
The sky shall groan and darken,
And every stone shall cry.

And every stone shall cry
For stony hearts of men:
God's blood upon the spearhead,
God's love refused again.

But now, as at the ending,
The low is lifted high;
The stars shall bend their voices,
And every stone shall cry.

And every stone shall cry
In praises of the child
By whose descent among us
The worlds are reconciled.

The link above(if it works)is to a version of this that is so lovely. You'll only get to hear a snippet, but it gives me chills every time I hear it.
We're singing a song with these lyrics at midnight Mass this year.

My other all time Christmas favs (in no particular order):
O Come All Ye Faithful
Joy To The World
I Wonder As I Wander--as sung by Vanessa Williams
Gabriel's Message---as sung by Sting
O Holy Night---as sung by Josh Groban
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas---as sung by Judy Garland (this is probably the saddest Christmas song ever, but I still love it)

So how about you? What are your favorites?

2 comments:

Debbie Nelson said...

Thank you for sharing this beautiful song. I love all Christmas music. From now until Christmas, I only listen to the holiday channel while driving. I think my very favorite is Joy to the World.

Anne said...

I haven't heard that song before, but the lyrics are beautiful! As for my own faves, Away in a Manger and Oh Come, Oh Come Emanuel are at the top of the list. Though for days after they announced Obama's pick for Chief of Staff, I had, "Oh Rahm, Oh Rahm Em-ah-ah-ah-nuel..." stuck in my head. Yeah, I'm a dork.