O Come Emmanuel

O Come Emmanuel

This month I offer a version of O Come, O Come Emmanuel that I recorded last year.  The subject matter is very much the same as Come Thou Long Expected Jesus which I posted for October.  Most of my thoughts from last month really apply to this song as well.  If you are interested in those, you can see my October post.  Whereas Come Thou Long Expected Jesus is a festive, upbeat, almost celebratory song, O Come, O Come Emmanuel is probably the most solemn of all Advent hymns.  The origin of this text is hard to track down.  Most sources I found traced the song back to a mixture of separate antiphons from the 8th to 12th centuries.  At any rate, John Mason Neale translated the Latin text Veni, Veni Emanuel into English about 1850.  There are at least eight known stanzas to the hymn, but below are the lyrics as you will hear them in my arrangement.  I hope you enjoy.

O Come, O come Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the son of God appear

Rejoice, rejoice

Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel

O come thou Dayspring from on high

And cheer us by thy drawing nigh

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

And death’s dark shadows put to flight

Rejoice, rejoice

Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel

O come thou Rod of Jesse free

Thine own from Satan’s tyranny

From depths of hell thy people save

And give them victory o’er the grave

Rejoice, rejoice

Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel

MP3

Each month I’ll post a new song.  This month’s song is from my album Hymns and Carols, and you can have it FREE.  Just right-click on the link below, choose “Save Target As,” and it’s all yours.  If you want to make a donation, I am funneling all funds from this project to International Justice Mission.  Visit the Donate page for more details.  And please share this blog with your friends.

O Come Emmanuel

(if you can’t download the file, send me a message at ecparker@comcast.net and I’ll email you the MP3)

Credits

Original text translated from Latin by John Mason Neale, 1851.

Music based on original melody.  Alt. by Eric Parker Copyright 2009 Eric Parker/BMI

Eric Parker – vocals, acoustic guitar

Brett Nolan – keys, drums

Fred Gault – bass

Susan Whitacre – viola

Rachel Beckmann – cello

Autumn Cone – backing vocals