I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Many years ago I was listening to Bryan Duncan’s Christmas is Jesus CD and I fell in love with the song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”. It was a beautiful arrangement of a classic song. The words of the song talk of despair and hardship but also reflect on the goodness and faithfulness of God.

The song which was originally a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on Christmas Day in 1864. Mr. Longfellow himself was someone acquainted with grief and despair.

In July 1861, Longfellow’s wife Fanny was burned in a tragic accident in the library of their home. The day before she had made a journal entry that read, "We are all sighing for the good sea breeze instead of this stifling land one filled with dust. Poor Allegra is very droopy with heat, and Edie has to get her hair in a net to free her neck from the weight.” Fanny had clipped some curls from 7-year-old Edith’s hair and wanted to preserve the clipping by sealing them in wax.  As she melted the sealing wax, a few drops fell unnoticed on her dress. The breeze that she had longed for in her journal entry gusted through the window, igniting her dress. Trying to protect her children Edith and Allegra, she ran into Henry’s study, where he frantically tried to extinguish the flames. Fanny passed away the next day. Longfellow himself was burned on his face, arms and hands. His trademark beard was the result of being unable to shave after the accident.

That Christmas Longfellow wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are all holidays.” A year after the accident, "I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace.”  Longfellow's journal entry for December 25th 1862 reads: "'A merry Christmas' say the children, but that is no more for me." Almost a year later, he received word that his oldest son Charles, had been severely wounded while serving as a soldier in the Civil War. Longfellow made no entry in his journal that Christmas. The following Christmas he wrote the poem. As you read the lyrics you hear the call that has been on the lips of so many for hundreds of year, the longing for peace on the earth. I can only imagine hearing the ringing of the Church bells on that Christmas morning as Longfellow penned the final verse of the song. Just close your eyes for a moment and imagine it. Like a scene from Dickens “A Christmas Carol”, I can envision Longfellow sitting at his desk writing and hearing the ringing of the bells begin, as he rises to his feel, walks to the window and throws it open. The ringing of the bells becomes louder as he looks up to Heaven and smiles and then walks back to his desk to write the final words, God is not dead nor doth He sleep, The wrong shall fail, the right prevail of peace on earth, good will to men.

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

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.

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.'

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

One of my favorite songs to sing throughout the Christmas season is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.  When performing, it is one of my first choices to share with an audience.  The title itself invokes a good feeling and brings a smile to my face. There was always one line that disturbed me, “Through the years, we all will be together if the fates allow”, until several years ago when I learned a little bit more about this song.

Judy Garland sang the song in 1944 in the classic MGM movie, “Meet Me in St. Louis”. The song writing credited to  Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. In an interview with NPR in December of 2006, Martin said that Blane had encouraged him to write the song but did not have anything more to do with its composition.

Martin wrote the song at a house in Birmingham, Alabama that his Father had designed as a Honeymoon Cottage for his Mother. When the original version of the song was presented to MGM, Garland, along with co-star Tom Drake and director Vincente Minnelli thought the song was too depressing.

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas, it may be your last. Next year we may all be living in the past. Have yourself a Merry little Christmas, pop that champagne cork. Next year we will all be living in New York.

No good times like the olden days, happy golden days of your, Faithful friends who were dear to us, will be near to us no more. But at least we all will be together, if the Fates allow, From now on we’ll have to muddle through somehow. So have yourself a Merry little Christmas now.

(**I must admit that in this form it is a little depressing although it fit the theme of the movie that the family would be moving to New York and leaving behind their life and friends from St. Louis.)

Martin reluctantly made some changes to the song and I am so glad that he did. "It may be your last / Next year we may all be living in the past" became "Let your heart be light / Next year all our troubles will be out of sight".

In 1957, Frank Sinatra decided to record the song for his album “A Jolly Christmas”. He asked Martin if he would come up with a jolly line to replace "Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow". The new line became "Hang a shining star upon the highest bough", now that’s more like it Mr. Martin. The song began to take shape and became a celebration of present happiness rather than focusing solely on a brighter future.

Over the years the song has been recorded hundreds if not thousands of times with combinations of lines from the various versions of the song.  Now you may be thinking, you still haven’t addressed the line that disturbed you. Well in 2002, the Christian group Newsong released a version of the song on their album The Christmas Shoes. The song was sung by lead singer Michael O’Brien. I am happy to say that I know Michael personally and have heard him share this story in person as well as in print.

In 1990, Michael met Hugh Martin who was playing the piano at a California church where Michael was performing.  It seems that the line in question was also changed to remove religious references from the song. The line as he originally penned it read, “Through the years we all will be together, if the Lord allows.” That is how I wrote it and that is how I want you to sing it, said Martin to O’Brien. Ever since then when I perform the song in concert I sing it as originally intended and I hope next time you hear it, that the word Lord will be on your lips too. And remember to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.  If the Lord allows I will share some other stories behind some your favorite Christmas songs and mine. Till tomorrow.