‘Joy to the World’ Carol
Joy to the World is an extremely popular Christmas carol that is now commonly sung as one of the most cheerful songs of Christmas. It tells the world to rejoice and make merry and celebrate the birth of the Lord. Its uplifting music and lilting melody has made it a favorite of Christians around the world. Its popularity can also be attributed to the fact that it talks of hope and salvation and abiding faith in Jesus and requests the believers to take heart and be happy. The song itself is full of optimism and expectation and permeates the listeners with joy.
History and background
Isaac watts, the writer of the song, wrote Joy to the World, almost 300 years ago, in 1719. Isaac Watts was heavily influenced by his father John Watts who was an extreme Non conformist and opted to attend a Non-conformist Academy at Stoke Newington in preference to a University. He was ordained as a Pastor of an Independent congregation and wrote a large number of hymns and carols based on the Psalms from the New Testament. To begin with, Watts was criticized for ‘trying to improve Psalms’ but later the songs were appreciatively accepted and in 1728 Watts was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree by the University of Edinburgh.
The music
Quite a few years after Isaac Watts death, the words of the hymn were put to music through the efforts of Lowell Mason. Dr. Mason did not write the music himself but improvised from another hymn called the Messiah by Frederick Handel. He had a great music career and composed more than 1600 devout works.
Why popular
- The song is joyous and uplifting and fills the heart with hope for the future.
- In its simple and basic way it tells the believers to rejoice and make merry and exult in the fact that Jesus our Lord and Savior has been born.
hi like i like am like a big fan like of Christmas carols like like like so i like hope yall have like a good day
Merry Christmas to all
and to all
a good night
December 18th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
I never heared of a hymn named Messiah by G.F. Handel, but, instead, a whole oratorio, which of course is well known and extremely popular! However, if such a hymn really exists, I would be glad to get to know more about it.
October 26th, 2009 at 7:41 pm