Tuesday, April 26, 2011

"O Little Town of Judah"

"O Little Town of Judah" Posted on Jul 11, 2010 at 11:12 PM (Modified: Jul 12, 2010 at 05:05 PM)July 13, 2010 at 1:16 pm
www.reverbnation.com/play_now/4537299 Link to a "live" version of "O Little Town of Judah"

This is from Christmas concert we did at the Sons of Mary in Framingham, I believe. I wrote the song right after Mass at St. Bridget's (when we lived at 505 Pleasant) during Advent inspired by the classic reading from Micah Chapter 5:

"But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; WHOSE ORIGIN IS FROM OF OLD, from ancient times.(Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when SHE WHO IS TO GIVE BIRTH has borne... He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD, his God; And they shall remain, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; HE SHALL BE PEACE."

(The famous song "O Little Town of Bethlehem" written in Massachusetts is based on the same reading, of course.)

The three bolded phrases together help give shape to the classic idea that Jesus is the only Person who was BORN IN ORDER TO DIE. Beyond time and space, 'from of old" that "she who is to give birth" would give the angels and shepherds the One who would bring ultimate peace through his Sacrifice. That is why in the song (at the bridge) you hear "your body given free will one day die and then our eyes will see you one day rise so we can be born again". Christmas is not just sentiment, it encompasses the meaning of all salvation history.

The song sits real nicely for Denise's voice and lets the guys harmonize on the bridge especially. It was a new addition in the late 80's for our Christmas show.

We started doing those Christmas shows really early on and it just kept going even when we changed the spots where we kept our equipment. By the time we did this show, we had a real nice assortment of original Christmas songs to complement "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord", "The Twelve Days of Christmas", "O Holy Night" and the Carol Medley.

So, the Christmas music is some of the best stuff we have on tape. We'll have to work on digging up some of the other stuff, too!

Peace from the Prince thereof,

Mark L

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