Well, it’s actually a very old song: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. (Click here to listen and download for free! Think of it as an early Christmas gift 
)
Truth be told, it wasn’t my favorite Christmas carol. Every time I have heard it, all I heard was a bouncy, annoying, perky song…something about harks…something about angels…and glory…blah blah blah… But as I flipped through the hymnal to look for lyrically rich carols, Hark jumped out at me. I had never taken the time to read the lyrics before:
Hark the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled”
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Christ by highest heav’n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more should die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”
I think these lyrics stuck out to me more than others because they focus not only on the incarnation, but the whole purpose for the incarnation. I love the richness of the words, the beauty, the theology, everything. ( My personal favorite is the third verse!) And so, I decided, if I’m going to record a Christmas carol, I want to do this one…because, to me, it captures the essence of why we celebrate Christmas more than any other carol I know.
And then, I thought, well, if I’m going to record Hark, I want to arrange it in such a way that the words are prominent. So I chose to slow down the tempo and tried to emphasize the lyrics as much as possible. I wanted an “epic” feel to the song, and with Tim Yenca’s (of Valley Recording) help, I think we accomplished it. I know, it’s a bit different; it’s not my usual sound. But I sincerely hope it makes you cock your head in deep thought as you process the words.
Thank you to: Tim Yenca & Valley Recording…for Tim’s hard work and his sweet guitar-playing (seriously, it makes me wish the song was longer just so I could hear more guitar solos) and his general, overall awesomeness. And a big thanks to Cathy Yenca for lending her ethereal tones to the background vocals…and for letting me borrow Tim for recording!
Thank you to Charles Wesley for penning such beautiful, meaningful lyrics. And thank you to Felix Mendelssohn for the music…even if I did find it annoyingly perky initially. 
And an eternal thank You to Jesus…for being “born that man no more should die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth”…
Merry Christmas, friends.
