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I Heard New Bells on Christmas Day
Here are lyrics for what I pray will meet with your approval as a Christmas carol expressing the hope that our culture will learn not merely to tolerate or to accept, but rather to fully embrace transfolk, whether merely androgynous, crossdressed, partially or fully transexual, or intersexed. These lyrics work with both the traditional melody by John Calkin or the modern tune by Johnny Marx. (The one by Casting Crowns doesn't fit the rhythm of the fourth and fifth lines of each stanza.)
I just wish that I had thought of these sooner…
"I Heard New Bells on Christmas Day"
I heard new bells on Christmas Day,
Their old and newer carols play,
And my ears meet
Their anthems sweet
Of Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men!
Angelic greetings to Men went,
And yet the Joy of Women sent
Out from a stall
The Gospel call
Of Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All!
So what beside a Christmas tree
Do in wonder now I see?
A little boy
Kiss dolls for joy
And Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All!
Then next to him a small girl kneels:
For builder's engines, joy she squeals!
Within her heart
She knows her art
Builds Peace on Earth, Goodwill for All!
His skirt and apron, her tool-belt
And yellow helmet worn, they knelt,
As him play she
And her play he,
Teach Peace on Earth, Goodwill 'tween Them!
Our heritage for children born,
Giv'n that ancient Christmas morn,
Let girls and boys
Trade genders' toys,
Learn Peace on Earth, Goodwill 'tween Them!
When thy son ask to daughter be,
If boy within thine own girl see,
Look past their shells
To deeper wells
For Peace on Earth, Goodwill from Them!
Let young and old in warmth confess
The shining Sun of Righteousness
And join to sing,
Whene'er bells ring,
Of Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All!
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Comments
Beautifully Done
Wouldn't it be wonderful.
Portia
Portia
Indeed!
...we still have hope!
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
Love, Andrea Lena
Sing a new song
Pastor Anam
Be it singing a new song or an old song with renewed meaning.
Our lives sing outside the boundaries of many peoples thoughts and perceptions
but they are natural to heart, thought and blessing to whom we find ourselves and others to be.
Blessed be your New Year
from another person of faith
Jessie C
Jessica E. Connors
Jessica Connors
thank you, dear for this
truly wonderful. thanks for sharing this with us. I'm not familiar with the original song, does anyone have a link?
Dorothycolleen, member of Bailey's Angels
The original version (sung
The original version (sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-EfxNj2oIQ
The newer version (sung by Casting Crowns): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7670CXvPX0
Jorey
.
Like Sudoku?
sudokurose.com
Jorey
.
You missed another…
I didn't mention the the one by Casting Crowns in my opening teaser because their version uses a different rhythm for the third & fourth lines of each stanza than Calkin's & Marx's tunes. I also find its tempo somewhat driven & anxious, more than I like for Longfellow's themes. But it's really a different song, to be appreciated & enjoyed in its own right.
The modern tune to which I referred is the one by Johnny Marx. A good choral recording of Marx's melody is at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuKnhi__3Ew
If I recall correctly, Marx used both his own melody and Calkin's in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. And I love both their tunes & I'll be heard performing the one as much as the other. Marx's is older than Casting Crown's, as it dates from the early 1960s.
My thanks to Jorey May for the link.
Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All!
The Rev. Anam Chara+
Anam Chara