God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (or God rest you 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".

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." It was the most popular of the early carols, sung for centuries before being published in Britain in 1833, when it appeared in "Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern", a collection of seasonal carols gathered by William B. Sandys, though its "incipit" was in William Hone's "List of Christmas carols now annually printed" in "Ancient Mysteries Described", 1823. The author is unknown.

This is the carol of 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 features in the second movement of the Carol Symphony by Victor Hely-Hutchinson.

Lyrics

The carol exists in a wide variety of versions, and even with differing numbers of verses. So no attempt is made here to detail the variants; rather the reader is referred to the [http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/god_rest_you_merry_gentlemen.htm Hymns and Carols of Christmas] analysis of a nine-verse version.

In the UK, the "de facto" baseline reference version is that adopted by Carols for Choirs, OUP, (1961):Quotation
1. God rest¹ you² merry, gentlemen,:Let nothing you dismay,:For Jesus Christ our Saviour:Was born upon this day,:To save us all from Satan's power:When we were gone astray:::"O tidings of comfort and joy,"::"comfort and joy,"::"O tidings of comfort and joy.":2. From God our heavenly Father:A blessèd angel came,:And unto certain shepherds:Brought tidings of the same,:How that in Bethlehem was born:The Son of God by name:::"O tidings ...":3. The shepherds at those tidings:Rejoicèd much in mind,:And left their flocks a-feeding:In tempest, storm and wind,:And went to Bethlehem straightway,:This blessèd Babe to find:::"O tidings ...":4. But when to Bethlehem they came,:Whereat this Infant lay,:They found Him in a manger,:Where oxen feed on hay;:His mother Mary kneeling,:Unto the Lord did pray:::"O tidings ...":5. Now to the Lord sing praises,:All you within this place,:And with true love and brotherhood:Each other now embrace;:This holy tide of Christmas:All others doth deface:³::"O tidings ..."
"Carols for Choirs"

Notes::¹Subjunctive mood: should be read to mean "may God rest you merrily, gentlemen."
:²Even in this traditionally-based publication, the opening line is "you", not the archaic "ye".
:³The carol's use of "deface" is Middle English, now archaic, to be understood not as spoil or vandalise but as "efface" (outshine, eclipse). Many subsequent versions, such as the New English Hymnal of 1986, make this substitution.

Notable cover versions

20th Century

*1945 – Bing Crosby – "Merry 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".)
*1967 – Ella Fitzgerald – "Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas"
*1967 – Julie Andrews with Andre Previn – "A Christmas Treasury"
*1968 – Iron Butterfly – "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
*1974 – George Guest and the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge – "Christmas at St. John's"
*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"
*1988 – Erasure – "Crackers International"
*1989 – Randy Travis – "An Old Time Christmas"
*1991 – John Williams/ John Neufeld / Alexander Courage – "Hook"
*1992 – Neil Diamond – "The Christmas Album"
*1992 – Garth Brooks – "Beyond the Season"
*1993 – Lorrie Morgan – "Merry Christmas from London"
*1994 – Mariah Carey – "Merry Christmas"
*1995 – Loreena McKennitt – ""
*1995 – Jars of Clay – "Drummer Boy EP"
*1996 – Trans-Siberian Orchestra – "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24"
*1997 – Bad Religion
*1998 – Almonzo – "Happy Christmas Vol. 1"
*1998 – Chicago – ""
*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"
*The song was "sampled" in the 1963 Christmas hit "A Soalin" by Peter, Paul and Mary.

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 – Faithbomb – ""
*2003 – Jethro Tull – "The Jethro Tull Christmas Album"
*2003 – Kekal – ""
*2004 – Barenaked Ladies – "Barenaked for the Holidays"
*2004 – Angela Chang – "Fable"
*2005 – Brian Wilson – "What I Really Want for Christmas"
*2005 – Moya Brennan – "An Irish 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 – The Brew Dogs – "A Brew Dog Christmas (Egg Dog)"
*2006 – Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band – "BAH, HUMDUCK!"
*2007 – Toby Keith – "A Classic Christmas"
*2007 – Jars of Clay – "Christmas Songs"
*2007 – Christmas at the Devil's House – ""
*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"

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

* Free arrangements for [http://cantorion.org/music/9/God+Rest+You+Merry%2C+Gentlemen Piano] and [http://cantorion.org/music/51/God+Rest+You+Merry%2C+Gentlemen Voice] from "Cantorion.org"
* [http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/god_rest_you_merry_gentlemen.htm This hymn on The Hymns and Carols of Christmas]
* [http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/o/godrest.htm This hymn on Cyberhymnal]
* [http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/g/g249.html This hymn on Oremus]
* [http://www.outtalimits.de/mp3/god_rest_you_merry_gentlemen.mp3 Audio sample] of the song performed by the german choir [http://www.outtalimits.de Outta Limits]