Go Tell It On The Mountain

MercyMe's reading keeps the traditional spiritual's chorus and structure essentially unchanged, repeating the same instruction after every verse: "go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere, that Jesus Christ is born." The command doesn't get more elaborate as the song continues; it just gets repeated until it's unmistakable.

The middle verse stays close to the original scene — "while shepherds kept their watching over silent flocks by night, behold throughout the heavens there shone a holy light" — before naming plainly what that light meant: "down in a lowly manger our humble Christ was born, and God send us salvation that blessed Christmas morn."

Luke's account of shepherds keeping watch and an angel appearing with news of a Savior's birth gives the song its entire scene, and the closing repetition — "he is born, he is born" — treats the announcement as something that still needs making, not just historical fact to be noted and moved past.