10 Lords a-Leaping

 

     One thing I've begun to understand only recently is that there is a clear separation in traditional liturgy between Christmas songs and advent songs. Christmas songs speak to Christ having come while advent songs celebrate the preparation and look forward to Christ's coming. For example, "Silent Night" is a Christmas carol, while "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" is an advent carol. We tend to use the terms interchangeably, at least here in the states, but there is something to be said for the distinction. 

      I title my blog posts after the twelve days of Christmas, though, in technicality, the twelve days of Christmas come afterwards while what I have are really "the twelve days of advent." 

Ah well!

Today, I want to share a lovely advent carol I learned recently. We sang it as a choir not too long ago and I love the imagery it uses. I'm always looking for the songs, many of them older which utilize a different(and good) perspective regarding a well-known subject.

    People Look East is one of those songs. Not only is the poetry itself beautiful but it speaks from the perspective of farmer folk. You can see them during the winter even when everything is dying and growing cold, looking out hopefully to see the coming of a new spring. It is a different sort of spring, but still, the spirit is the same.

      I have little to say about this advent carol. It explains itself more or less. However, I do want to point out the progression of the last lines, all the different adjectives for love, each one building on the one before:

Love the guest, the rose, the bird, the star, the Lord is on the way...ultimately this is the message of Christmas, and advent specifically, isn't it? Love has come down to us, love so beautiful, love the Lord of all. Let us look east with joy and anticipation this Christmastide and make this advent something to remember because Love, God's greatest gift, is on the way.

One small apology for this version. My favorite arrangement is the one we sang by Malcom Archer, but there are very few decent recordings of this online, so I went with something where the lyrics are on screen, and they're not racing off to put out a fire.Hopefully you can get the basic idea and know that this carol can sound so much better. 

Even so, it is lovely. You're welcome if this gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

       Happy Advent!

           ~ Christianna