God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - English Carol

Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. I usually don't arrange very well known pieces as this one has been done to death by far better musicians than I, but the fresh snowy forest looked beautiful and I just needed an excuse to film a clip before the snow melted off the trees, and this was the only Christmas-related song I knew off the top of my head so I threw this together quickly in a day while the forest still had that picturesque white look. For what it's worth, the recent renditions of this traditional English Carol have been very modernised and bombastic, so this can at least provide an example of a more traditional sound representative of the 1800's to 1900's when this carol became popular. There are many different versions of this song's lyrics so I mixed different lyrics from the different printed versions from the the 1700's to today.

Lyrics:
God rest you merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
For Jesus Christ, our Saviour
Was born upon this day,
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.

O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.

From God that is our Father
The blessed angels came
Unto some certain shepherds,
With tidings of the same;
That he was born in Bethlehem
The Son of God by name,

Now when they came to Bethlehem,
Where our sweet Saviour lay,
They found him in a manger
Where oxen feed on hay.
The blessed Virgin kneeling down
Unto the Lord did pray.

With sudden joy and gladness,
The shepherds were beguil'd,
To see the Babe of Israel
Before his mother mild.
O then with joy and cheerfulness
Rejoice each mother's child

Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place
Like we true loving brethren,
Each other to embrace,
For the merry time of Christmas
Is coming on a-pace.

[faryafaraji]

Vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. I usually don't arrange very well known pieces as this one has been done to death by far better musicians than I, but the fresh snowy forest looked beautiful and I just needed an excuse to film a clip before the snow melted off the trees, and this was the only Christmas-related song I knew off the top of my head so I threw this together quickly in a day while the forest still had that picturesque white look. For what it's worth, the recent renditions of this traditional English Carol have been very modernised and bombastic, so this can at least provide an example of a more traditional sound representative of the 1800's to 1900's when this carol became popular. There are many different versions of this song's lyrics so I mixed different lyrics from the different printed versions from the the 1700's to today.

Lyrics:
God rest you merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
For Jesus Christ, our Saviour
Was born upon this day,
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.

O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.

From God that is our Father
The blessed angels came
Unto some certain shepherds,
With tidings of the same;
That he was born in Bethlehem
The Son of God by name,

Now when they came to Bethlehem,
Where our sweet Saviour lay,
They found him in a manger
Where oxen feed on hay.
The blessed Virgin kneeling down
Unto the Lord did pray.

With sudden joy and gladness,
The shepherds were beguil'd,
To see the Babe of Israel
Before his mother mild.
O then with joy and cheerfulness
Rejoice each mother's child

Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place
Like we true loving brethren,
Each other to embrace,
For the merry time of Christmas
Is coming on a-pace.

[albertvonhabsburg]

Sargon of Akkad singing chrismas song, it's like a mesopotamian santa.

[caynereed]

This man single-handledly carrying based music these past years.

[miastupid]

"At His birth, men came from the East. And at His death, men came from the West. And the East and West met in Him.", S.M. Lockridge.
Actually spent the day learning about the three Wise Kings (Magi), spurred on by your Epic Nineveh Symphony.
Tidings of comfort and joy to you, Farya. Beautiful, as always.

[bobalexandrovich]

My favourite English carol! it may be overdone, but a good version is hard to come by. Your version is splendid! Also what a gorgeous snowy forest scene

[reginaldodonoghue]

Would love to hear you sing ‘We Three Kings’ in Old Persian or Pahlavi.

[redquoter]

Love from a Russian Orthodox fan - Many Years my dude!

[KnightofGaming]

I recommend also listening to this song from Clamavi De Profundis. When they sing it, it either sounds like an army or you are at a Knights Templar gathering. But Farya sounds like a skilled medieval bard.

[greyfox]

Jesus singing about Jesus looks and sounds pretty cool.

[jacobbergau]

This man is majestic. Absolutely mythical. Looks like Giga Chad

[AroundElvesWatchUrselves]

Local gentleman sings Christmas carols in wilderness

[eduardocarbonellbelando]

So cool. ¡ Feliz Navidad desde España! Your work is great😊

[vaeius]

You actually got me with the tree at the end, solemn caroling and then just that. Thanks for the laugh and good music.

[vimalpatel]

Arrived in tidy time. Farya, blessings and peace be with you, and yours.

[CONSTANTINEXI]

I love how you just walk away with a tree like it is nothing at the end.
Merry Christmas from Canada

[lucimicle]

Glad you made your own rendition. Since weather influences you I'll wait for a meteor shower to see if you post something like "hey guys, I was inspired by the apocalypse".

[jeremeyrichardson]

Io Saturnalia Faraji.
Peace and blessings to you and yours mate.
Thank you for all your music and epic talking.
Best YouTube channel going.
❤️🎄🇦🇺

[philsavage]

God bless you Farya you truly are a wonderful and precious being. Peace be upon you dear brother

[amirmichaelroyer]

As always, just wonderful! My favorite Christmas carol sung by one of the best musicians I know, Merry Christmas!

[Huar]

I love the last clip of you pushing on the tree to see if it would fall, and surprised when it did.