# Greensleeves/What Child is This? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960 "2007-06-14T04:47:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/141 "2016-01-01T00:25:09Z")
I just got out of Mass, and the Communion hymn this evening was What Child is This. Rather than making me think of God, I thought of this thread. So if I’m in Purgatory a little longer, I’m blaming all of you! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/142 "2016-01-01T16:14:53Z")
Heh, same song for us this morning. And in fact the only Christmas song we had this morning: The others were two peace songs and two Mary songs. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/143 "2016-01-04T20:51:21Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > **Dubious because religious stuff shouldn’t be tacked on to traditional secular stuff. \* They already have so much, can’t they leave the rest alone ?** > We here don’t admire Henry VIII for much of his life’s work, but most of us admit the man could carry a tune. Imagine in the future some pastor latching on to\* Jimmy Shagdog and the Shaggers\*’ 1983 Disco masterpiece ‘ **Shag Me All Night Long** ’, and altering it to convey God’s Glory,: ‘ **Praise Him All Night Long** ’; > \* > “What Jimmy meant to say here, ‘Oh baby ! Fucketty Fucketty Doo, Don’t Stop Now’ is that we must persevere.”\* > > - Nor is taking religious stuff like chalices and stained glass ( and bodies ) and putting them in secular museums particularly acceptable. _Render unto Caesar…_. My sentiments over these things match yours closely, I think. I’m a pagan at heart, and not a religious believer – with a hard-to-shed gut-feeling that "religious = a mixture of ‘killjoy’, and ‘just plain wet’ ". I especially feel with you, re the above part bolded by me. I recall (an “in-reverse” thing, but, I feel, basically in the same ballpark) my first encounter with the song _Lord of the Dance_, a very long time ago. Heard it sung as a “throwaway” thing, by a highly-secular folk group; with someone mentioning that the tune was an old Shaker one. I thus got the impression that the song was basically a bit of random “doodling”, happening to be about Christ, and likely dashed off by some thoroughly heathen “folkie”, to fill up an idle half-hour. In that context, I thought – “hey – fun ‘curiosity’ of a song – catchy tune”. Discovering later that the song is in fact a solemn and serious creation, held in high and reverent regard by Christians; and the work of the devoutly Christian songwriter Sydney Carter (who I’m sure was a most excellent chap) – caused my liking for it, greatly to diminish. I’m going to hell, for sure… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/144 "2016-01-04T21:44:16Z")
I’m not sure I follow you, there… “Lord of the Dance” is a thoroughly religious song through and through. How could it in any way be mistaken for secular? ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/145 "2016-01-04T21:50:01Z")
A question to those (at least those still around) who have never heard it as WCIT: are you from an English speaking country? Given the song’s origins, I can see it taught as a folk song and made into a Christmas song in the English language. Just my WAG. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960/146 "2016-01-04T21:58:53Z")
I’m sure I heard both songs and never realized they were the same music til it was explicitly told to me in one way or another. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greensleeves-what-child-is-this/407960.md?page=7)