Music is and always has been one of the most important aspects of my life, so for the past few years I’ve given Christmas music CDs to many friends and relatives. Not your usual carols or silly Santa songs but rich, vibrant music, appropriate to the season and the Christmas story.
Below and in the next post are selections from some of those albums.
First song is I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, sung by John Cash (as he liked to be known). Believe it or not, this song was written during the Civil War by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Listen to the lyrics and you might think it was written yesterday. Many church bells will ring at noon in our town on Christmas, how about yours?
Second selection is the contemporary song Breath of Heaven, written and sung by Amy Grant. I sang a solo on this with our church choir several years ago at a Christmas Eve candlelight service. I wish I could say I sounded as good as Amy Grant, but I did my best. It's such a haunting melody, I dare you to try to erase it from your memory once you've heard it.
Next is I Pray on Christmas, sung by The Blind Boys of Alabama, featuring Solomon Burke. This will get you in the mood if nothing else does. It’s raw, it’s real, and the lyrics are quite moving.
reporter, writer, wife, mother, stepmother, grandmother, photographer, singer, knitter, swimmer -- not all at the same time songbird@birdsonawireblog.com
