Introduction
- Welcome music: Faith Hill version of What Child is This?[1]
For the next three sessions, I want to do a Something Old, Something New series around Christmas music. Old and new can be relative terms, but I’m aiming for things 19th century and older, while I’m thinking last 10 years for something new.
Today’s older piece is What Child is This? and the newer piece is A Baby Changes Everything. In this case, both pieces are on Faith Hill’s 2008 Christmas album Joy to the World[2], and we’ll listen to both those, as well as a very traditional presentation of What Child is This? by John Denver.
We’ll talk about these two pieces and look at how they express the wonder (and challenge) around the birth of Jesus, and think about how this affects our lives. I think it’s fair to say that the birth of Christ is a matter of wonder and challenge for us today, though not in the same way that it was for Mary personally.
What Child is This?
That’s a really important question. “What child is this?”, indeed.
Melody
The oldest part of the song What Child is This? is the melody – Greensleeves[3] (8.7.8.7 with refrain) – which is a traditional English tune known to be at least as old as 1580. The urband legend is that King Henry VIII (1491–1547) composed this for his (then) consort Anne Boleyn, but this is highly unlikely. There is some thought that the piece is more likely from the time of Elizabeth I, given similarity to some other music of the time. The piece did gain popularity quickly, though, as it is referenced in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, particularly Falstaff’s comment “Let the sky rain potatoes! Let it thunder to the tune of ‘Greensleeves’!”.
The original song describes a woman’s rejection of the singer’s advances. There is a possibility that the woman under discussion is promiscuous, as the color green had some sexual connotations at that time, particularly in the context of a “green gown” – suggesting the color it would get after a romp in the grass. That raises some interesting irony, given the use of the tune for this very traditional hymn.
Greensleeves is traditionally done in the key of E minor, which is a very natural key signature for guitar (and the lute of the late 16th century). It’s interesting that Robert Morgan asserts that E minor is the “saddest of all keys” in his write up on Greensleeves[4], while an internet search for “the saddest of all keys” turns up primarily references to work by Spinal Tap about a piece in D minor, which they assert is the saddest of all keys.
Regardless, any minor key is “sad”, and the use of this ballad, lamenting the rejection of the singer by a woman is an interesting juxtoposition with the words we use today in What Child is This?.
Lyrics
The lyrics were written in 1865 by William Chatterton Dix (1837–1898), as part of a longer poem, while he was recovering from a near-death illness. Dix was an insurance agent whose father was a surgeon, but Dix wasn’t interested in following that path. He was more of a poet and writer, who sold insurance as a means to put bread on the table. Dix also composed As with Gladness Men of Old (PCUSA blue hymnal #63), Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (PCUSA blue hymnal #144), and To You, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise (less well-known and not in our hymnal).
Taking a look at the lyrics (from Wikipedia[5]), it’s interesting to me that a more original version of this song has parts I’ve never heard before (and which aren’t in our hymnal. As written by Dix, there are three verses, with no chorus. More modern versions (including all of the hymnals I checked) take the second half of the first verse and use it as the chorus (6.8.6.7). Given the differences in meter, this is perhaps more in keeping with the original tune, but some of the words that we don’t sing are pretty powerful and worth reading.
What child is this, who, lays to rest,
On Mary’s lap is sleeping,
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud [praise],
The babe, the son of Mary!Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
[or repeat last half of 1st verse]
Nails, spear shall pierce him through,
The Cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word Made Flesh,
The babe, the son of Mary!So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
Come, peasant, king, to own Him!
The King of Kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him!
[or repeat last half of 1st verse]
Raise, raise the song on high!
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy! joy! for Christ is born,
The babe, the son of Mary!
Read through lyrics to What Child is This?. What do you think of the song itself and of the lyrics we don’t normally sing? What messages does this bring through to you?
Listen to John Denver version of What Child is This? I pick this as a much more traditional presentation of the song, with very light accompaniment, particularly in the first verse. What does this presentation provide for you in terms of message and emotions? Do the differences in presentation between Hill and Denver offer different aspects to this song for you?
A Baby Changes Everything
I don’t have as much history or background on Faith Hill’s A Baby Changes Everything[6], which hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart from 12/20/2008 - 1/3/2009 and also peaked at #36 on the Billboard Country Songs chart around that same time. The composers are listed as James Nichols, Craig Wiseman, and Kim Wiseman. There aren’t any particular stories or histories that I’ve found about this piece, but it’s an interesting presentation of an aspect of the Christmas story.
- Read through lyrics for A Baby Changes Everything What messages do we get? Listen to the Faith Hill presentation of this. What thoughts do you have about her presentation of the lyrics?
Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what’s to come
A baby changes everythingNot a ring on her hand
All her dreams and all her plans
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everythingThe man she loves she’s never touched
How will she keep his trust?
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everythingAnd she cries!
Ooh, she cries
Ooh, ohShe has to leave, go far away
Heaven knows she can’t stay
A baby changes everythingShe can feel it’s coming soon
There’s no place, there’s no room
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everythingAnd she cries!
And she cries!
Oh, she criesShepherds all gather ’round
Up above the star shines down
A baby changes everythingChoir of angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
Everything, everything, everythingHallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
HallelujahMy whole life has turned around
I was lost but now I’m found
A baby changes everything, yeah
A baby changes everything
I picked two songs, partially because they were in the same collection from a particular artist, and they both focussed on the baby, asking the question of what this child means to each of us. What do you see? What does this child mean for you this Christmas season?
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What Child is This?, track 2 from Joy to the World (2008) by Faith Hill. Available on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/joy-to-the-world/id291423330 ↩
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The artist’s site is http://www.faithhill.com. This particular album isn’t specifically mentioned on her site, but it is available through the normal channels, and there is a brief Wikipedia article available. ↩
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Then Sings My Soul, Volume 2, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers: 2003, ISBN 0–7852–4939–7. http://www.robertjmorgan.com/bookstore/hymn-stories/then-sings-my-soul/. What Child is This? is on page 102. Note: The name for this class is an independent inspiration from the same basic source. There is no direct connection between this class and Dr. Morgan, apart, I presume, from a similar love of Christ and music. ↩
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A Baby Changes Everything, track 11 from Joy to the World (2008) by Faith Hill. Available on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/joy-to-the-world/id291423330 ↩
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