Posts Tagged ‘I’

I Pray on Christmas | a Christmas song

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

“I Pray on Christmas” is a Christmas carol with music and lyrics by Harry Connick Jr. First released in 1993 on his multi platinum album When My Heart Finds Christmas. Connick has also released the song on his Christmas Special VHS in 1994, and again on his DVD Harry for the Holidays (2003) as a bonus track featuring Connick and Kim Burrell.

Sample of the lyrics

I pray on Christmas
Oh, the sick will soon be strong
I pray on Christmas
The Lord will hear my song
I pray on Christmas
That God will lead the way
And I pray I really pray on Christmas
He’ll get me through another day

Also recorded by

  • Lynda Randle with Michael Tait, on the album Christmas (2005).
  • Blind Boys of Alabama with Solomon Burke, on album Go Tell It on the Mountain (2003).
  • The Oak Ridge Boys, on the album An Inconvenient Christmas” (2002).
  • Kirk Talley, album Talley-ho-ho-ho! (1999).


External link

  • Audio sample, Harry Connick Jr

Noel! Songs for Christmas - Vol. I | Christmas

Saturday, February 9th, 2008

Noel! Songs for Christmas - Vol. I is an album of Christmas related songs and carols recorded by independent musician Sufjan Stevens in 2001. It seems that the album was never officially released but rather given away to friends and family during Christmastime. It was followed by two similar releases: Hark! Songs for Christmas - Vol. II in 2002 and Ding! Dong! Songs for Christmas - Vol. III in 2003.

This cd is available as part of the box set Songs for Christmas released by Asthmatic Kitty Records in 2006.


Track listing

  1. “Silent Night” (Gruber/Mohr)
  2. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (Latin hymn, c. 850)
  3. “We’re Goin’ to the Country”
  4. “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” (Speier Gebetbuch, 1599)
  5. “It’s Christmas! Let’s Be Glad”
  6. “Holy, Holy, etc.”
  7. “Amazing Grace” (Newton)

Links

I Pray on Christmas | Christmas

Monday, January 21st, 2008

“I Pray on Christmas” is a Christmas carol with music and lyrics by Harry Connick Jr. First released in 1993 on his multi platinum album When My Heart Finds Christmas. Connick has also released the song on his Christmas Special VHS in 1994, and again on his DVD Harry for the Holidays (2003) as a bonus track featuring Connick and Kim Burrell.

Sample of the lyrics

I pray on Christmas
Oh, the sick will soon be strong
I pray on Christmas
The Lord will hear my song
I pray on Christmas
That God will lead the way
And I pray I really pray on Christmas
He’ll get me through another day

Also recorded by

  • Lynda Randle with Michael Tait, on the album Christmas (2005).
  • Blind Boys of Alabama with Solomon Burke, on album Go Tell It on the Mountain (2003).
  • The Oak Ridge Boys, on the album An Inconvenient Christmas” (2002).
  • Kirk Talley, album Talley-ho-ho-ho! (1999).


External link

  • Audio sample, Harry Connick Jr

Links

Helgakviða Hundingsbana I | Twas’ the

Thursday, January 17th, 2008

Völsungakviða, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I or the First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is an Old Norse poem found in the Poetic Edda. It constitutes one of the Helgi lays together with Helgakviða Hundingsbana II and Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar.

The locations in the poem have been fervently debated with a Danish school maintaining Danish origins and locationsSee Bellow’s commentaries and references to Sophus Bugge. and a Swedish one pointing out that locations (e.g. Brávellir and Brandey) and characters (Ylfings, Högni and Granmarr) place the events in Östergötland and Södermanland.Nerman, B. Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925. The poem is also ambiguous in attributing Helgi to the Ylfing, Yngling and the Völsung clans, which suggests a merging of originally unrelated traditions.

In the Edda, the poem is a sequel to Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar whose heroes Helgi Hjörvarðsson and Sváfa are reborn as Helgi Hundingsbane and Sigrún. However, in Codex Regius, it is actually followed by Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar.

The poem begins in a location called Brálund with the birth of Helgi Hundingbane, the son of Sigmund and Borghild. Norns arrived at the dwelling to shape his future as a hero.

1. Ár var alda,
þat er arar gullu,
hnigu heilög vötn
af Himinfjöllum;
þá hafði Helga
inn hugumstóra
Borghildr borit
í Brálundi.
-
2. Nótt varð í bæ,
nornir kómu,
þær er öðlingi
aldr of skópu;
þann báðu fylki
frægstan verða
ok buðlunga
beztan þykkja.Helgakviða Hundingsbana I Guðni Jónsson’s edition of the text with normalized spelling.
1. In olden days,
when eagles screamed,
And holy streams
from heaven’s crags fell,
Was Helgi then,
the hero-hearted,
Borghild’s son,
in Bralund born.
-
2. ‘Twas night in the dwelling,
and Norns there came,
Who shaped the life
of the lofty one;
They bade him most famed
of fighters all
And best of princes
ever to be.The First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.

When Helgi was but fifteen years old, he slew a man named HundingThere is no mention here of Hunding’s battles with Helgi’s father Sigmund.. This caused Hunding’s sons Eyjólfr, Álfr, Hjörvarðr and Hávarðr to approach Helgi asking for wergild and the return of the booty Helgi had taken from their father. When Helgi refused them this, Hunding’s sons declared war and in the ensuing battle, Helgi killed all of Hunding’s sons.In the Völsunga saga, Hunding’s sons kill Sigmund and his father-in-law Eylimi, whereupon Sigurd takes revenge.

Helgi met the Valkyrie Sigrún who informed him that her father Högni has betrothed her to Höðbroddr, the unworthy son of king Granmarr of the Hniflung clan. Helgi promised to take on Höðbroddr and to claim her as his own. Helgi then assembled a mighty host and departed to wage war on Höðbrodd’s family.

When they had arrived at Granmar’s kingdom, the poem deals with a flyting between Helgi’s half-brother Sinfjötli and Höðbrodd’s brother Goðmundr. Then, the armies clashed at Frekastein and Helgi was victorious winning Sigrún as his bride.


Notes


External links

  • Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I Translation and commentary by Henry Adams Bellows
  • Helgakviða Hundingsbana Fyrri Translation by Benjamin Thorpe
  • Helgakviða Hundingsbana I Translation by Lee M. Hollander
  • Helgakviða Hundingsbana hin fyrri Sophus Bugge’s edition of the manuscript text
  • Helgakviða Hundingsbana I Guðni Jónsson’s edition of the text with normalized spelling

Links

All I Really Want for Christmas | Christmas

Sunday, January 13th, 2008

All I Really Want for Christmas is the second Christmas album by Steven Curtis Chapman, released in September 2005. The album includes traditional holiday favorites such as “Go Tell It on the Mountain” and “Silver Bells”, but also includes Chapman’s adopted daughter, Shaohannah, telling Luke 2:7-14 in her own words. Chapman’s artistic flavor shows through in each and every song.


Track listing

  1. “Luke 2:7-14 as told by Shaoey”
  2. “Angels from the Realms of Glory”
  3. “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
  4. “All I Really Want”
  5. “The Miracle of Christmas”
  6. “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
  7. “Christmas Is All in the Heart”
  8. “Silver Bells”
  9. “Winter Wonderland”
  10. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
  11. “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”
  12. “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem”
  13. “The Night Before Christmas”
  14. “Shaoey and Her Dad Wish You a Merry Christmas”


External links

  • Steven Curtis Chapman official website
  • Album info

Links

All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth | Christmas song written

Monday, December 24th, 2007

All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” is a Christmas song that was written by Donald Yetter Gardner. Gardner wrote the song in 1944 while teaching music at public schools in Smithtown, New York. He asked the class what they wanted for Christmas, and noticed that almost all of them had at least one front tooth missing as they answered in a lisp. Gardner wrote the song in 30 minutes. In a 1995 interview, Gardner said, “I was amazed at the way that silly little song was picked up by the whole country.”

The song was originally recorded by Spike Jones and The City Slickers on December 6, 1948 (that version reached the top of the charts in early 1949). The song has also been recorded by numerous other singers and performers, including George Strait, Danny Kaye with The Andrews Sisters, The Platters, Nat King Cole, The Chipmunks, the Hampton String Quartet and the cast of Sesame Street.

Country music parodist Cledus T. Judd parodied the song on his 2002 Christmas album Cledus Navidad. Titled “All I Want For Christmas Is Two Gold Front Teef”, Judd’s parody is performed in rap.

Links

All I Really Want for Christmas | Christmas

Sunday, December 9th, 2007

All I Really Want for Christmas is the second Christmas album by Steven Curtis Chapman, released in September 2005. The album includes traditional holiday favorites such as “Go Tell It on the Mountain” and “Silver Bells”, but also includes Chapman’s adopted daughter, Shaohannah, telling Luke 2:7-14 in her own words. Chapman’s artistic flavor shows through in each and every song.


Track listing

  1. “Luke 2:7-14 as told by Shaoey”
  2. “Angels from the Realms of Glory”
  3. “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
  4. “All I Really Want”
  5. “The Miracle of Christmas”
  6. “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
  7. “Christmas Is All in the Heart”
  8. “Silver Bells”
  9. “Winter Wonderland”
  10. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
  11. “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”
  12. “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem”
  13. “The Night Before Christmas”
  14. “Shaoey and Her Dad Wish You a Merry Christmas”


External links

  • Steven Curtis Chapman official website
  • Album info

Links

I Pray on Christmas | Christmas

Friday, November 30th, 2007

“I Pray on Christmas” is a Christmas carol with music and lyrics by Harry Connick Jr. First released in 1993 on his multi platinum album When My Heart Finds Christmas. Connick has also released the song on his Christmas Special VHS in 1994, and again on his DVD Harry for the Holidays (2003) as a bonus track featuring Connick and Kim Burrell.

Sample of the lyrics

I pray on Christmas
Oh, the sick will soon be strong
I pray on Christmas
The Lord will hear my song
I pray on Christmas
That God will lead the way
And I pray I really pray on Christmas
He’ll get me through another day

Also recorded by

  • Lynda Randle with Michael Tait, on the album Christmas (2005).
  • Blind Boys of Alabama with Solomon Burke, on album Go Tell It on the Mountain (2003).
  • The Oak Ridge Boys, on the album An Inconvenient Christmas” (2002).
  • Kirk Talley, album Talley-ho-ho-ho! (1999).


External link

  • Audio sample, Harry Connick Jr

Links

I Pray on Christmas | Step into Christmas is

Sunday, July 29th, 2007

“I Pray on Christmas” is a Christmas carol with music and lyrics by Harry Connick Jr. First released in 1993 on his multi platinum album When My Heart Finds Christmas. Connick has also released the song on his Christmas Special VHS in 1994, and again on his DVD Harry for the Holidays (2003) as a bonus track featuring Connick and Kim Burrell.

Sample of the lyrics

I pray on Christmas
Oh, the sick will soon be strong
I pray on Christmas
The Lord will hear my song
I pray on Christmas
That God will lead the way
And I pray I really pray on Christmas
He’ll get me through another day

Also recorded by

  • Lynda Randle with Michael Tait, on the album Christmas (2005).
  • Blind Boys of Alabama with Solomon Burke, on album Go Tell It on the Mountain (2003).
  • The Oak Ridge Boys, on the album An Inconvenient Christmas” (2002).
  • Kirk Talley, album Talley-ho-ho-ho! (1999).


External link

  • Audio sample, Harry Connick Jr