My Favorite Christmas Carol
If you were to decide on your favorite Christmas carol, what would it be?
Maybe the traditional "White Christmas"? I'm dreaming of a...
Or the ridiculous "Grandma got run over by a reindeer"?
Or the fun and frivolity-filled "Jingle Bells"?
Well, my favorite has got to be "Carol of the Bells". Why? Because it's the only Christmas song I can imagine being sung whole-heartedly by Scrooge himself. Think about the words:
"Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say throw cares away..."
Here we have a nice lyrical section about the sweet sound of bells. Except the tune is anything but sweet! It's dark and foreboding, ominous at least.
"One seems to hear words of good cheer, from everywhere, filling the air..."
Sounds nice and pleasant, right? Well the tune is more in line with a guy on the verge of a mental meltdown. He knows the voices aren't real; that's why he only SEEMS to hear words of good chear, and they come at him from every corner of the room!
"Oh how they pound! Raising the sound! O'er hill and dale, telling their tale!"
As the music beats to a crescendo, it conveys the very strong image of a guy being driven crazy by the incessant ringing of bells. He becomes progressively more frantic. And is driven inevitably to the conclusion.
"Gaily they ring! While people sing! Songs of good cheer, Christmas...Is...Here!!!"
In no other Christmas song do I get the strong picture of some Scrooge-like madman running around yelling about "the bells! the bells!" while holding his hands over his ears.
Which is why I think this Christmas-time celebration of insanity is so nice. And why it's just so fitting that we should do our own version. So TODAY, we are putting "Carol of The Bells" from our SNOW EP online.
Listen on Myspace, or
Purchase from ReddingBrothers.com