# O Little Town Of Bethelehem lyrics not as I thought they were - am I going insane? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 23, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370 "2006-12-23T19:21:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/1 "2006-12-23T19:21:59Z")
I’ve just put the finishing touches to some powerpoint slides comprising the lyrics of some Christmas carols for a community event tomorrow and I had to raise a query with the person organising it, who sent me the lyrics - the text they provided had the second verse of _O Little Town Of Bethlehem_ as: > [@](#): > > For Christ is born of Mary > And gathered all above > While mortals sleep, the angels keep > Their watch of wondering love > O morning stars together > Proclaim the holy birth > And praises sing to God the King > And Peace to men on earth Whereas I’m sure I’ve **always** knowin it as: > [@](#): > > O morning stars together > Proclaim the holy birth > And praises sing to God the King > And Peace to men on earth > For Christ is born of Mary > And gathered all above > While mortals sleep, the angels keep > Their watch of wondering love It works either way in terms of syllables and scansion, but sounds horribly foreign to me the first way. What concerns me most is that I can’t find a single source on the web with the lyrics as I remember them. Can it really be that I have been singing this, probably the most well-known and oft-repeated of all christmas carols, wrong, for the best part of forty years? How could I have sung it with the verses transposed and not noticed others singing it the other way all around me? Or am I just going mad, and experiencing some kind of false memory - if it’s that, it’s utterly compelling and disturbing in the seamless way it fits in with my experience… Help! ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/2 "2006-12-23T19:29:02Z")
This won’t help you, but I’ve always heard it the first way. My 1973 Catholic Missal says so, too. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/3 "2006-12-23T19:57:03Z")
I second the first. ---
**Author:** ![Chum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@Chum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chum)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/4 "2006-12-23T20:48:23Z")
I’ve also only heard it the first way. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/5 "2006-12-23T21:55:49Z")
I’m pretty sure I’ve always heard it the first way. Checking my church’s hymnal, that’s the way it’s printed. But, your church must have its own hymnals too, right, and you’ve been used to them? If I were you I’d check it against the songbook you’ve always used if possible. (I’d check my _Oxford book of carols_ for you but it’s at home, and I’m at my BIL’s house. I’ll look tonight when I get home if you like.) ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/6 "2006-12-23T21:58:07Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Can it really be that I have been singing this, probably the most well-known and oft-repeated of all christmas carols [/QUOTE] Apropos of nothing, I’ve always thought of **O Little Town** as a carol of only second-class prominence, at best. I’m not sure what’s best known… I’d guess **Silent Night** , or perhaps (depending on how you define Christmas Carol) **White Christmasn** , **Deck the Halls** , **Joy to the World** , **Rudolph** or **O Come All Ye Faithful**. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/7 "2006-12-23T22:06:21Z")
If you think about it **Mangetout** , you wouldn’t have _morning_ stars proclaiming the holy birth before Christ is born of Mary. To do so would be a bit of a stretch. I’ve always heard it the other way around ending with “And peace to men on earth.” Ah, how many fingers am I holding up? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/8 "2006-12-23T22:57:23Z")
Ah! I’m not insane. I just found a copy of the [Bethlehem Carol Sheet (53rd edition)](http://www.biblelands.org.uk/cards_and_gifts/images/cs53.htm) in my coat from the ‘carols around the tree’ event last week - and the version printed there is [exactly as I remember it](http://www.gurman.co.uk/stuff/olittletown.jpg). I also checked an old piano music book of carols and the verse in question is entirely absent - which is interesting - I wonder if it is a modern insertion… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/9 "2006-12-23T23:01:15Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] If you think about it **Mangetout** , you wouldn’t have _morning_ stars proclaiming the holy birth before Christ is born of Mary. To do so would be a bit of a stretch. [/QUOTE] The term ‘For’ means _‘because’_, not ‘before’- O morning stars together Proclaim the holy birth And praises sing to God the King And Peace to men on earth **Because** Christ is born of Mary And gathered all above While mortals sleep, the angels keep Their watch of wondering love ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/10 "2006-12-24T02:27:48Z")
Even if think you ARE going insane, you can blame the season. Loads of people are getting cranky, the season can be stressful. And IS, actually. I’m sure you’ll be back to normal in a few weeks. Merry Christmas! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/11 "2006-12-24T02:32:06Z")
Any way its sung, it is a beautiful song with a haunting melody. This and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear are two of my favorites. It might be fun to sing it the alternative way-keep the audience on their toes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/12 "2006-12-24T03:10:26Z")
I love both of those songs as well. And _Adeste Fideles._ I learned _O Little Town Of Bethlehem_ the first way. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/13 "2006-12-24T03:29:49Z")
It was written in 1868 by Phillips Brooks, Episcopal clergyman (and later the Bishop of Massachusetts for the last two years of his life), and all the texts I’ve been able to find give the first version in the OP. Perhaps it was reset by someone (for whatever reason,) and your church has preserved the rearrangement? Full five verses as written by Brooks (copyright has expired, mods! :)): > [@](#): > > O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie! > Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. > Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light; > The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. > > For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above, > While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love. > O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth, > And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth! > > How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n; > So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n. > No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, > Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in. > > Where children pure and happy pray to the blessèd Child, > Where misery cries out to Thee, Son of the mother mild; > Where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door, > The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more. > > O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; > Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today. > We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; > O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel! ---
**Author:** ![jbarro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@jbarro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbarro)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/14 "2006-12-24T03:38:52Z")
In my church’s (United Church of Canada) new hymnal, the last line is “And peace to all on earth”. They’ve made all the pronouns gender neutral, in every hymn. It’s amusing to listen to half the congregation (singing from their memories) sing “men” while those reading sing “all”. There was quite a bit of debate over the lyric changes when they were producing the new hymnals. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/15 "2006-12-29T02:34:09Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] It was written in 1868 by Phillips Brooks, Episcopal clergyman (and later the Bishop of Massachusetts for the last two years of his life), and all the texts I’ve been able to find give the first version in the OP. Perhaps it was reset by someone (for whatever reason,) and your church has preserved the rearrangement? [/QUOTE] I don’t know, but asking around a bit more, nearly everyone I know is familiar with the version to which I am accustomed - only a small number of my contacts know it the other way and only one (the person I referred to in the OP) claims never to have heard it the way I remember it. I think it might just be that the rearranged version is the one that caught on nationally here in the UK - I’m pretty sure that it will be the way I remember it on any recorded media here. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/16 "2006-12-29T06:27:23Z")
Another vote for the first order. I’d also like to give an honourable mention to the cover version of this carol that can be found on the Bob Rivers website as part of his Twisted Tunes collection. The song is performed to the tune from “House of the Rising Sun” and IMHO it works beautifully. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/17 "2006-12-29T06:43:07Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I think it might just be that the rearranged version is the one that caught on nationally here in the UK - I’m pretty sure that it will be the way I remember it on any recorded media here. [/QUOTE] It’s the rearranged version that we sing in the US too, but I did check my old book of carols and it was the original way. I wonder when and how it got changed? It doesn’t seem to make much difference to the song, so why was it done? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/18 "2006-12-29T06:49:37Z")
I’ve always heard it the first way - but if it helps, I think of the verse as “God _our_ King” which is apparently wrong. And **eleanorigby** , I don’t want to be kept on my toes for Christmas carols. They should be exactly as I remember it - without gender neutrality. (Other places, of course. But I want the “sons of earth” to be raised when the herald angels sing.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/19 "2006-12-29T08:04:26Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] …probably the most well-known and oft-repeated of all christmas carols… [/QUOTE] I don’t think I’ve ever heard it sung in this part of the earth. I don’t think it’s quite as well known as you imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370/20 "2006-12-29T10:43:22Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I think it might just be that the rearranged version is the one that caught on nationally here in the UK - I’m pretty sure that it will be the way I remember it on any recorded media here. [/QUOTE] I think that you’re right on this. An important point not yet mentioned in this thread is that the hymn is generally **sung to different tunes** in the US and UK. [The cyberhymnal.org page](http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/l/olittle.htm) (WARNING: MIDI file plays when page is loaded) for OLToB gives three tunes: [ul] [li] **St. Louis** , written in 1868 by Lewis Redner, who was the organist at [Phillips Brookes](http://cyberhymnal.org/bio/b/r/o/brooks_p.htm)’s church (the “standard US tune”). [/li][li] **Forest Green** , arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1906[sup]\*/sup.[/li][li] **Ephratah** written by Uzziah C. Burnap in 1895 (with which I am unfamiliar).[/li][/ul]The [Wikipedia entry for OLToB](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Little_Town_of_Bethlehem) mentions a fourth tune by H. Walford Davies, usually performed only by choirs rather than congregations. My copy of [The Penguin Book of Christmas Carols](http://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Book-Christmas-Carols/dp/014008357X), originally written in the UK in 1965, gives the OP’s **second** order of lyrics. I was wondering if perhaps the rearrangement occurred in 1906 when Vaughan Williams set it to _Forest Green_, but then I came upon [this site](http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/o_little_town_of_bethlehem.htm), which gives the OP’s first version as the original and then says: > [@](#): > > Alternate second verse given in Phillips Brooks, _Christmas Songs and Easter Carols_ (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1903): > > O morning stars, together > \ > Their watch of wondering love. i.e. the OP’s remembered (second) version. The [notes](http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/o_little_town_of_bethlehem.htm) page at the same site contains commentary from 1924, that implies that the rearrangement was a mistake by the publishers of the 1903 collection. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-little-town-of-bethelehem-lyrics-not-as-i-thought-they-were-am-i-going-insane/385370.md?page=2)