Something Old, Something New for Christmas, Part III

Introduction

Today’s “old” piece is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, which is at least 15th century in origin and perhaps as old as the 8th century. In the original Latin, the title is Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, and we’ll take a look at the lyrics in both English and Latin.

Looking across these three weeks for this series, it does occur to me that my tastes run to the quieter, and perhaps more solemn, Advent hymns, and this one is definitely solemn hymn, set in a minor key.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

This hymn is an Advent hymn, in that it is definitely anticipating and calling for Christ, rather than a Christmas hymn (which is more about the birth itself and what happened). It is derived from the O Antiphons from church tradition, which were historically sung during vespers over the last 7 days of Advent. Wikipedia’s article on the O Antiphons has a lot of interesting information on these. According to this article, the historical order for these is as shown below.

• December 17: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
• December 18: O Adonai (O Lord)
• December 19: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
• December 20: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
• December 21: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
• December 22: O Rex Gentium (O King of the nations)
• December 23: O Emmanuel (O With Us is God)

As with many such things, there is a hidden meaning (an acrostic) in the Latin versions of the O Antiphons. Take the first letter of each, starting with the last (Emmanuel, Rex, Orens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, and Sapentia). Put those letters together and you get the (Latin) words ero cras, meaning “Tomorrow, I will come”. The antiphons speak to us individually and collectively as reminders of Chris is coming and what that coming means.

Within the PC(USA), the O Antiphons are given in the Book of Common Worship to be used as litanies of praise during morning or evening prayer during Advent.

• Review the antiphons from the Wikipedia page and discuss meaning

Lyrics

• Latin

Veni, veni Emmanuel;
Captivum solve Israel,
Qui gemit in exilio,
Privatus Dei Filio.

Refrain:
Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,
Nascetur pro te, Israel!

• English

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Refrain

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Refrain

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Refrain

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.
Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Refrain

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.
Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and discord cease,
And fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Refrain

This version (from http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/c/o/ocomocom.htm has eight verses, though there are traditionally 7 antiphons. The 8th verse (which I’ve rewritten to match the wording in the PC(USA) hymnal is attributed to a 1916 translation by Henry Sloane Coffin[1].

• Discuss this hymn and what it means to people.

The presentation of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel I’ve selected for today is a new and somewhat different take on the piece, by Jill Tracy[2]. Her presentation is often dark and Goth. This particular presentation is from the 2012 album Silver Smoke, Star of Night (Shadow of Christmas)[3]. To me, there are some interesting angles here with the culture often associated with Goth and dark, but yet a song of home and anticipation. Ms. Tracy’s presentation seems to me to be consistent with both the message of hope and the that style of music. It is a reminder that being Christian does not require being like us.

• Play Jill Tracy version of this song. What are the thoughts about this presentation?

Something New

While the presentation of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is new, I also have two newer songs. One is more serious with a strong theme of hope, and the other is silly, but with some interesting commentary. The lyrics are below, and I invite you to read them and think about the messages of Christmas and Christianity. I found the first one particularly interesting and relevant given the discussions last week in class of the various tragedies we’ve seen recently. The first song is a message of hope and a reminder to us about outreach to those in need. And the second asks some questions both about the meaning of Christmas and the ways in which indigenous people have been treated.

Christmas Card, by Steven Curtis Chapman[4]

I think I passed you on the busy sidewalk last night
I think I caught the sadness in your eyes
While everybody sings their happy Christmas songs tonight
All you want to do is cry

Christmas lights and decorations everywhere you turn
But all you feel inside is dark and gray
There may be joy for all the world but is there any joy for you
Hold on, Love is looking for a way
Hold on, I believe it’s why love came

So I’m sending you this Christmas card
To let you know somebody loves you
And I’m singing you this little song
To let you know you’re not alone
And I’m thinking, as we celebrate, how Love came down
So every lost and lonely broken heart would get found
And wherever you are, I hope this Christmas card
Finds you and reminds you
You are loved

For every one who’s been left standing on the outside looking in
Every one with dreams that never will come true
When the story of your life gets re-written over night
Well, this is all part of the Christmas story, too
And I believe God knows and He’s right there with you

So I’m sending you this Christmas card
To let you know somebody loves you
And I’m singing you this little song
To let you know you’re not alone
And I’m thinking, as we celebrate, how Love came down
So every lost and lonely broken heart can be found
And wherever you are, I hope this Christmas card
Finds you and reminds you
You are not alone

You’re never forgotten
The God who made you came down to our world
To let us know wherever we are
He is with us
Our God is with us
And He really wants to let you know
Just how much He loves you

And I’m singing you this Christmas song
So you’ll know you’re not alone
And I’m thankful, as we celebrate, how Love came down
Now all the lost and lonely broken hearts can be found
And wherever you are, I hope this Christmas card
Finds you and reminds you
You are loved

Merry Christmas on Mars, by Ray Zimmerman[5]

Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
That’s how they say Merry Christmas on Mars
Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
To little Megada-vic and Hackanacanack and Lars

You could say Happy Hingana-bink
Or Jolly Jiggada-pinka-schnoo
Or simply Icken-Ikcen-Schmick-Schmick everyone!

But Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
Means Merry Christmas on the fourth rock from the sun

Try it with me now …

Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
That’s how they say Merry Christmas on Mars
Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
To little Pickada-mic and Schwowowowow and Lars

You could say Happy Hingana-bink
Or Jolly Jiggada-pinka-schnoo
Or simply Icken-Ikcien-Schmick-Schmick everyone!

But Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
Means Merry Christmas on the fourth rock from the sun

We landed on that planet - Don’t you remember?
And quickly overran it - Just last December
Demanding of the Martian population

Convert to Christianit-y
That can’t be too hard, can it?
Even Godless Unitarians want a week’s vacation

Their skin is green, their eyes are red
And so they all stood up and said …

Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
That’s how we say Merry Christmas on Mars
Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
Mostly ‘cause Martians cannot pronounce R’s

You might say Happy Hingana-bink
Or Jolly Jiggada-pinka-schnoo
Or simply Icken-Ikcen-Schmick-Schmick everyone!

But Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
Means Merry Christmas on the fourth rock from the sun

You might say Blessed Jook-Neeb (And also with you … )
Or here’s to Auld Lang (SFX)
Or simply Venganenga-Schmookanooka-Dink No–el … No–el …

But Eenie Kaveenie Klibadavac
Means Merry Christmas to a Martian infidel

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1. The Presbyterian Hymnal: Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs. Louisville, Ky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990.  ↩

2. See http://jilltracy.com/jt/about-jill-tracy/ for a bio of the singer, which quotes the San Francisco Chronicle describing her as “femme fatale for the thinking man”.  ↩

3. http://jilltracy.bandcamp.com/album/silver-smoke-star-of-night or https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/silver-smoke-star-night-in/id561560009  ↩

4. Christmas Card, Track 8 from Joy by Steven Curtis Chapman (2012) http://stevencurtischapman.com/store/music or https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/joy/id565659610  ↩

5. Christmas on Mars, Track 14 from Real American by Roy Zimmerman (2010) http://www.royzimmerman.com/store.php or https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/real-american/id375680307  ↩