Carols necessary Christmas sound

Recently I read a brief bit of information that explained how Christmas carols were invented to tell the story of the Nativity to people who couldn’t read.

I had never heard it described quite that way before, but it struck me as very plausible.

While I have always enjoyed Christmas songs, I’m talking here about Christmas carols and I believe there is a difference.

Rube Render

Bing Crosby did a wonderful job singing “White Christmas,” but it takes a full blown choir to really do justice to even the most humble of Christmas carols.

When I was a child, Christmas always meant magnificent music and it’s a shame that most of it is no longer heard, even in church:

“Silent Night” or the German “Stile Nacht,” “O Holy Night,” “Adeste Fideles,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “Flores Apparuerunt in Terra Nostra (Flowers Appeared in Our Land),” “When Blossoms Flowered Mid the Snow” and many more.

The good sisters of Saint Francis made sure we knew them all and could sing them in harmony. My sister and I can still harmonize on a rendition of “Adeste Fideles” that will melt the icy heart of even the most obstinate Scrooge.

Lest you think I am an old curmudgeon, who lives forever in the past who can’t abide anything modern, I commend to you the following lines from “Corn, Water and Wood” written by Wendy Waldman and co-written by Carol Elliot. This refrain is sung by “three dark-skinned men on three painted horses.”

“We seek the soul of all that is good.

“We come bearing corn, water and wood.

“Stop and behold all that is good.

“Give thanks for the corn, water and wood.”

Not exactly the gold, frankincense and myrrh of the original Magi, but much more fitting and practical for the High Plains of eastern New Mexico.

“Frosty the Snowman,” “Walking in a Winter Wonderland,” “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” are all great Christmas songs, but none of them can hold a candle to any of the carols listed above.

I know I’m a day late, but I hope everyone had a happy and sacred Christmas and is looking forward to a blessed and prosperous New Year. My special thanks to those of you who told me you read and enjoy this column. I’ll be back next year.

Rube Render is the Curry County Republican chairman. Contact him at:

[email protected]