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God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (also known as God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen) is a traditional Christmas carol. The melody is in a minor key and is in common time or cut time. The composer is unknown; it is often attributed as English traditional.
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History
"Like so many early Christmas songs, this carol was written as a direct reaction to the music of the fifteenth century church," writes Ace Collins, in Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas. However, in the as-yet earliest known publication of the carol on a circa 1760 broadsheet, it is described as a "new Christmas carol,"[1] suggesting its origin is actually in the mid-18th century. It appeared again among "new carols for Christmas" in another 18th-century source, a chapbook believed to be printed between 1780-1800.[2] In 1833 it appeared in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, a collection of seasonal carols gathered by William B. Sandys. The author is unknown.
It is referred to in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, 1843: "...at the first sound of — "God bless you merry, gentlemen! May nothing you dismay!"— Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action, that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost."
This carol also is featured in the second movement of the Carol Symphony by Victor Hely-Hutchinson.
Lyrics
There is some confusion today about the meaning of the first line, which seems archaic to our ears. It is usually given today as "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen", with a comma after the word "merry", so does not refer to "merry gentlemen". "Rest" here denotes "keep," thus the meaning is a wish that "God keep you merry, gentlemen." In both of the 18th-century instances, "you" was used instead of "ye," suggesting that the latter may be a modern insertion to make the carol more quaintly archaic.
The carol exists in a wide variety of versions, some with differing numbers of verses. No attempt is made here to detail the variants; rather the reader is referred to the Hymns and Carols of Christmas analysis of a nine-verse version. However, for historical comparison, the first verses of the earliest-known versions are given below.
Circa 1760 (from "Three New Christmas Carols," Printed and Sold at the Printing-Office on Bow Church-Yard, London):
God rest on [sic] merry, Gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this Day.
To save poor souls from Satan's power,
Which long time had gone astray.
Which brings tidings of comfort and joy.
Circa 1780-1800 (from "Three new carols for Christmas," Wolverhampton, printed by J. Smart):
[Punctuation reproduced from the original--in this instance there is no comma after "merry."]
God rest you merry Gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay;
Remember Christ our Saviour,
Was born on Christmas-day;
To save our souls from Satan's power,
Which long time had gone astray:
This brings Tydings of Comfort and Joy.
In the UK, the de facto baseline reference version is that adopted by Carols for Choirs, OUP, (1961):
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Notable recordings
20th Century
- 1945 – Bing Crosby – Merry Christmas
- 1946 – Robert Shaw Chorale – Christmas Hymns and Carols, Vol. 1
- 1958 – Harry Simeone Chorale – Sing We Now of Christmas
- 1959 – Perry Como – Seasons Greetings From Perry Como
- 1961 – Leontyne Price with Herbert von Karajan – A Christmas Offering
- 1963 – Nat "King" Cole – The Christmas Song (appeared in the original "Magic of Christmas" (1960), deleted and later re-added to "The Christmas Song".)
- 1963 – Robert Shaw Chorale – A Festival of Carols
- 1967 – Julie Andrews with Andre Previn – A Christmas Treasure
- 1967 – Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas
- 1967 – Simon & Garfunkel (as "Comfort and Joy") – unreleased single b/w "The Star Carol", included on Old Friends box set (1997)
- 1968 – Iron Butterfly – "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (Doug Ingle's organ solo)
- 1974 – George Guest and the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge – Christmas at St. John's
- 1978 – Jethro Tull – Bursting Out
- 1980 – Sir David Willcocks and The Bach Choir with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble – The Bach Choir: Family Carols (recorded for Decca Records and reissued as On Christmas Night)
- 1984 – Mannheim Steamroller – Mannheim Steamroller Christmas
- 1984 – Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King's College, Cambridge – O Come All Ye Faithful: Favourite Christmas Carols
- 1985 – The Royal Shakespeare Company – as Christmas Carol, on the soundtrack album of their nine-hour production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
- 1985 – The Cathedrals – A Cathedral Christmas A Capella
- 1988 – Erasure – Crackers International
- 1989 – Randy Travis – An Old Time Christmas
- 1991 – The Chieftains – The Bells of Dublin
- 1991 – John Williams/ John Neufeld / Alexander Courage – Hook
- 1992 – Neil Diamond – The Christmas Album
- 1992 – Garth Brooks – Beyond the Season
- 1992 – Joe Pass – Six String Santa
- 1993 – Lorrie Morgan – Merry Christmas from London
- 1994 – Mariah Carey – Merry Christmas
- 1994 – Robert Shaw Festival Singers – Songs of Angels: Christmas Hymns and Carols
- 1995 – Loreena McKennitt – A Winter Garden: Five Songs for the Season
- 1995 – Jars of Clay – Drummer Boy EP
- 1996 – Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24
- 1997 – Bad Religion
- 1997 – Trisha Yearwood – Hallmark's Home For The Holidays (with the London Symphony Orchestra
- 1998 – Chicago – Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album
- 1998 – David Hill and the Choir of Winchester Cathedral - O Come Let Us Adore Him: Christmas Carols from Winchester Cathedral
- 1999 – Viva Voce – Happy Christmas Vol. 2
- 2000 – Charlotte Church – Dream a Dream
- 2000 – Bradley Joseph – Christmas Around the World
21st Century
- 2001 – 38 Special – A Wild-Eyed Christmas Night
- 2002 – Bright Eyes – A Christmas Album
- 2002 – The Irish Rovers – Songs of Christmas
- 2003 – Carly Simon – Christmas Is Almost Here Again
- 2003 – Jethro Tull – The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
- 2003 – Kekal – A Brutal Christmas: The Season In Chaos
- 2004 – Barenaked Ladies featuring Sarah MacLachlan – Barenaked for the Holidays
- 2004 – Angela Chang – Fable
- 2005 – Brian Wilson – What I Really Want for Christmas
- 2005 – Moya Brennan – An Irish Christmas
- 2005 – Steven Curtis Chapman – All I Really Want for Christmas
- 2005 – Pedro the Lion – God rest ye Merry Gentlemen 7
- 2005 – Boyz II Men – Winter/Reflections
- 2005 – Kate and Anna McGarrigle - The McGarrigle Christmas Hour
- 2005 – Kevin Max – Holy Night
- 2005 – MercyMe – The Christmas Sessions
- 2006 – Aimee Mann – One More Drifter in the Snow
- 2006 – Aly & AJ – Acoustic Hearts of Winter
- 2006 – Maddy Prior – An Evening of Carols and Capers
- 2006 – Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band – BAH, HUMDUCK!
- 2007 – Toby Keith – A Classic Christmas
- 2007 – Jars of Clay – Christmas Songs
- 2007 – Brian Setzer Orchestra – Wolfgang's Big Night Out as Take A Break Guys
- 2007 – The Legendary Shack Shakers – Oh Santa! New and Used Christmas Classics from Yep Roc
- 2008 – Loreena McKennitt – A Midwinter Night’s Dream
- 2008 – Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Rudy Sarzo, Simon Wright – We Wish you a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year
- 2008 – Dustin Kensrue – This Good Night Is Still Everywhere
- 2008 – Relient K – Let it Snow Baby... Let it Reindeer
- 2008 – Sawyer Brown – Rejoice
- 2008 – Overboard – Tidings
- 2009 – Rascal Flatts – Unwrapped
- 2009 – Bare Naked Ladies
Parody versions
Tom Lehrer, in his song "A Christmas Carol," included the line "God rest ye merry, merchants, may ye make the Yuletide pay..."
Allan Sherman used a parody in "Shticks and Stones" in his album My Son, the Folk Singer:
God bless you, Jerry Mandlebaum, may nothing you dismay;
Dis May you had a rotten month, so what is there to say?
Let's hope next May is better and good things will come your way
And you won't have a feeling of dismay next May...
In Fox's medical drama House M.D., Dr. Gregory House, an openly atheist doctor, sings God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen in hospital halls, probably making a snide remark about the fact that he came up with a diagnostic solution for a patient who is thought to be dying.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius Black sings "God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs" -- note that the comma is in the wrong place, perpetuating a common misinterpretation of the first line.
During World War II, British schoolchildren commonly paraphrased the song as "God Rest Ye Jerry Mental Men", with 'Jerry' being a slang term for the German enemy, and 'Mental Men' implying stupidity.[citation needed]
Other
A Christmas episode [1] of All Creatures Great and Small was titled Merry Gentlemen, in ironic reference to Siegfried urging his colleagues to sing the song correctly, with a pause between "Merry" and "Gentlemen".
Angela Chang (Zhāng Shàohán 张韶涵), a Taiwanese pop singer, uses the melody for "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" in the chorus of her song "[Parable (寓言 Yùyán)".
Notes
- ^ "Three new Christmas carols." [London], [1760?]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale.
- ^ "Three new carols for Christmas. 1. God rest you merry gentlemen, &c. 2. Good Christian people pray give ear. 3. Let all good Christian people here." Wolverhampton, [between ca. 1780 and 1800?]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale.
Further reading
- The New Oxford Book of Carols, ed. Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), p. 527
- Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, Ace Collins (Zondervan, 2001).
External links
- Arrangements for Piano and Voice from Cantorion.org
- This hymn on The Hymns and Carols of Christmas
- This hymn on Oremus
- Audio sample of the song performed by the German choir Outta Limits
- Discussion of lyrics and grammar of the first line by Catherine Osborne
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