God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Hollyn's take on this traditional English carol keeps the text essentially untouched across two lead-vocal passes, trading a few pronouns between the verses but leaving the theology exactly where it's always been. "Christ our Saviour was born upon this day" names Luke 2:11's angelic announcement directly — "there is born to you, today, in David's city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

"To save us all from Satan's pow'r, when we were gone astray" reaches for Isaiah 53:6's confession that "we all like sheep have gone astray; everyone has turned to his own way" — the carol naming both the wandering and the rescue from it in the same line, centuries before either Hollyn or her audience sang it. The repeated closing line, "tidings of comfort and joy," keeps the carol from turning into a lecture; whatever theological weight the verses carry, the refrain insists the actual message is good news.