One of my favorite groups this Christmas season is Casting Crowns which offers a unique arrangement of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day with lyrics composed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The story of Longfellow's poem Christmas Bells can be found here.
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."
Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!
© 2011, copyright Thomas MacEntee
3 comments:
I almost posted this song, too. My father had memorized almost all of Longellow's poems (including most of Hiawatha) and he could recite these words when our church played this song on the carillon in our bell tower. We were always impressed by this when we were kids!
I was reading too quickly and thought you said "Casting CLOWNS" so this rendition was a double surprise. I LIKE it!
Thomas, I absolutely love this song by Casting Crowns. I listen to it all year round, not just at Christmas time. Such an amazing message and haunting melody! It just captures the spirit of the season perfectly.
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