Light a Fire (Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella) / I Saw Three Ships

Light a Fire (Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella) 

This wasn't originally a Christmas song. It was dance music for French Nobility. The carol first appeared in print in 1688 in a collection of twelve Provençal Noëls by Nicolas Saboly. The popularity of the melody is attested by its use four years later by Marc-Antoine Charpentier for a drinking song in 1672. - Wikipedia  

Loreena McKennitt's instrumental recording does a mashup with “I Saw Three Ships”. There are 2 verses of that song after the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th verses, totaling 6. “I Saw Three Ships” has 7 verses, so I inserted 1 between the first and 2nd verse. Note for the 4th “Bring a Torch” verse, the last syllable is carried from 'shenanigans' to where the first 'warm' would be according to the usual pattern. 


Light a fire to warm the hearth  

Light a fire to melt our toes 

It is chilly while playing outside 

Sledding down hills and building snow-friends 

So So Tall our creations standing 

So so tall our sculptures are 

 

I saw 3 ships come sailing in 

This winter day, this winter day (in the morning) 

 

Quiet now when the snowflakes are falling 

It is comfy to hear dampened sound 

Silence bringing the calmness around us 

Pau-se the noise for a just a moment 

Hush! Hush! Listen to the stillness 

Hush Hush Listen to quietude.  

 

And what sailed in on that steady breeze 
This winter day, this winter day (in the morning) 

The ice, the snow, and the chilling freeze 

This winter day, this winter day (in the morning 

 

 

 

Hasten now, good folk of the village: 

Hasten now to the sledding hill. 

You will find your friends are all laughing 

Join in the fun and venture downward 

Zoom zoom! adventure beckons you 

Zoom zoom! You can't resist the call 

 

Pray, wither sailed those ships all three 

This winter day, this winter day (in the morning) 

Through all the temperate zones, you see  
This winter day, this winter day (in the morning) 

 

Softly now to the kitchen table 

Softly now for some hot chocolate 

Look and see how charming and rosy 

Cheeks from all, outdoor shenanigans 

warm, wintery treats we're sipping 

Warm, warm, wintertime tasty treats 

 

We'll sled downhill and laugh with glee 
This winter day, this winter day (in the evening) 

And let us all rejoice and sing 
This winter day, this winter day (in the evening) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Secular Carols (and their original titles)

Secular Carol (Original Title in Parenthese) 8 Rejoices of Winter (7 Rejoices of Mary)   https://trampleprancers.blogspot.com/2024/12/8-rejoices-of-winter-7-rejoices-of-mary.html Away in A Burrow (Away in a Manger )   https://trampleprancers.blogspot.com/2024/12/away-in-burrow-away-in-manger_16.html Blessed Be the Working Class (Blessed Be the Maid Marie)   https://trampleprancers.blogspot.com/2024/12/blessed-be-working-class-blessed-be_16.html Breton Carol   https://trampleprancers.blogspot.com/2024/12/breton-carol_16.html By Frozen Paths ( Balulalow )   https://trampleprancers.blogspot.com/2024/12/by-frozen-paths-balulalow_16.html Coventry Carol    https://trampleprancers.blogspot.com/2024/12/coventry-carol.html Dark! The Winter Solstice Night (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)   https://trampleprancers.blogspot.com/2024/12/dark-winter-solstice-night-hark-herald.html Do you Hear What I Hear?   https://trampleprancers.blogspot.com/2024/12/do-you...
Read more

Dark! The winter solstice night (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

  Dark! The winter solstice night (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)   This is an English Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection Hymns and Sacred Poems. The carol … features … music adapted from " Vaterland , in  deinen   Gauen " by Felix Mendelssohn. - Wikipedia   I wrote these lyrics to celebrate the tradition of telling ghost stories during the Christmas holiday – a tradition that predates and is echoed in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I stan Halloween so keeping the Spooky Spirit all year long is my jam. Funny enough, adding the line about Nephilim actually puts a Biblical bit back in.     Dark! the Winter solstice night   Stories tell of ghastly fright   Peace be here, and keep us calm   As we stave off pabulum    This suspense in chilling wind   Keeps the blankets to our chin   When the spectral hosts proclaim   "Yield unto the Nephilim "   Dark the Winter solstice night   ...
Read more

8 Rejoices of Winter (The 7 Rejoices of Mary)

  8 Rejoices of Winter (The 7 Rejoices of Mary)   I am most familiar with Loreena McKennitt’s version. The melody has long been in the public domain and has been used in many songs. This is the first one I did. I spelled it with the numeral so it could be alphabetized first in honor of that. I crowd-sourced through Facebook what people’s favorite things about winter are, specific to the season and nature. This was a great one to start with as diving into the list and supporting details helped with future songs like “In the Bleak Midwinter.” In the second line I used the archaic term “wilt” instead of “will” for anachronistic and rhyming reasons. But even though I’ve recorded it already I think I’ll go with the less-accurate rhyme and keep the modern term going forward .       The first good joy of winter, it is the axial tilt   The angle of our journey changing seasons as it will   To see the change of season, as we see our breath like clouds...
Read more