Here’s one of my favorite songs from Sissel’s Kyrkjebø’s first Christmas album, the one that made her a superstar in Norway. The title means “Now a thousand Christmas lights are being lit.” I was looking for a live performance video, but the only one I could find is half talk (in Norwegian). So you’ll just have to look at her face on the album cover, which seems to me no chore. Below is an original translation of the lyrics, done by me at this keyboard at this very moment:

Around this darkened world tonight,

A thousand candles glow,

And all God’s stars above shine down

To cheer our night below.

And over towns and over fields

The joyful carols sing

The news that in a manger bed

We find our God and King.

O Star that shone o’er Bethlehem,

To hail the holy birth,

Bring to our hearts the angels’ song

Of love and peace on earth.

So every wand’ring heart shall see

A beacon in their sky,

To light their path through this dark world

To Christmas home on high.

(For the record, this picture of Sissel on the “Glade Jul” album was the inspiration for the appearance of the character Halla in The Year of the Warrior.)

Let sin depart, while we His grace,
And glory see in Jesus’ face;
For so shall we sure comforts find
When thus this day we bear in mind. (from the old lyric of “The Sussex Carol”)

Tonight, another Christmas hymn sung by Sissel. This one probably isn’t familiar to you (I think it’s Swedish), but it’s one of Sissel’s own favorites, and has become one of mine. “Mitt hjerte altid vanker” means “My heart always wanders,” and the song goes on to say that the singer’s heart always wanders back to the place where Christ was born, because all his/her joy is there.

I particularly like the way they use some strains of Grieg for the bridge.

This Christmas Carol by Christina Rossetti, performed by Sissel, seems a good choice as I approach a weekend when YET ANOTHER snowstorm is portended. It’s supposed to start coming down heavily late tonight, and continue tomorrow–pretty much all day. Indications suggest I’ll finally be able to get to snowblowing on Sunday morning, which may interfere with church.

At least I ought to have plenty of time to work on Christmas cards without distraction.

Have a good weekend!

Kudos to a great new band based in Chattanooga, Concerning Lions. This isn’t a great video, but the song is cool and, I believe, will be in an upcoming album. I wish I could point you to the lyric, but if you’re in a place where you can crank the volume, then you’ll be able to hear the words yourself, which is, like, better.

Concerning Lions – Young Curmudgeon – TBP from Concerning Lions on Vimeo.

Today on the Virtual Book tour there are three stops (at least in theory). I’m interviewed at Broowaha (though they jumped the gun, date-wise). There’s a nice interview at As the Pages Turn, and a very short item at The Plot, where I’m scheduled to show up in more substantial form tomorrow.

Occasionally I blog about music here, on the strength of no expertise whatever. Although I was in a musical group for several years in my tragically well-spent youth, and am reputed to have a pretty nice voice, I never comprehended music theory, and have a lousy ear and very little sense of rhythm.

Nevertheless, sometimes a song hits me, mutates into an earworm, and won’t leave me alone until I blog about it. And so I’m going to meditate on Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” I’ve poked around YouTube looking for a cover I really liked, and frankly none I’ve heard has entirely satisfied me. All in all, I’m least disappointed in Rufus Wainright’s version:

Continue reading A cold and broken "hallelujah" →