Oh, Contrarian! – Page 8 – Some thoughts perhaps not in accordance with prevailing wisdom

Sing Along on the Fourth Day of Christmas

*My featured image for this post comes from a drive-through of the 2017 GE Nela Park holiday light display in East Cleveland. Seemed like a Winter Wonderland to us!*

In a previous post I mentioned that some of these songs would be secular, and the sing-along for Tuesday, December 28, is an example. For the Fourth Day of Christmas, let’s join in singing “Winter Wonderland.” And I’ve provided a bonus, which is referenced below.

Sing Along on the Third Day of Christmas

For the Third Day, our sing-along is “Joy to the World,” which we often hear as the opening or closing hymn on Christmas day itself. Like a lot of Christmas songs, this one started out as a poem. Here’s how it looked when first published.

It was written as Isaac Watt’s take on the second part of Psalm 98. Here’s how it looked in 1719, when published in his “Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and Apply’d to the Christian State and Worship.” So it’s now over 400 years old!

Sing Along on the Second Day of Christmas

For St. Stephen’s Day, sing along with “Good King Wenceslas”! This song is worth a look in Wikipedia. “King” Wenceslas was actually a Bohemian duke who was declared a saint by the Catholic Church. You’ll see why in this song, where even his footprints in the snow are warm. The lyrics: