“Do You Hear What I Hear?” is one of my favorite Christmas carols. Sadly, it’s not one of the more common holiday songs. Of my fifty-ish holiday albums, the only one it seems to be on is a Bing Crosby compilation. You’re not likely to hear it while walking through the grocery store. I listen to a lot of holiday music this time of year, and I probably only hear it once or twice a season.
Why do I like it so much if I rarely hear it? Well, I’m glad you asked since that’s what I actually want to write about today. When I was in elementary school, I want to say third or fourth grade, I, like everyone else, was in the school chorus. And we were good. I mean really, really good. Not like a typical elementary school choir. At least that’s how I remember it. It’s too bad there are no recordings to confirm my memory.
Anyway, at our annual winter concert, we performed “Do You Hear What I Hear?”. But we didn’t just sing it. Every kid got a xylophone, and we played the melody on the xylophone while we sang it. I had never done such a thing before. It was so much fun. It was definitely the first time I ever knew what notes I was singing. CC, GG, high C, G. CC, GG, high C, G. I remember it to this day. In fact, whenever I come upon an instrument, it’s my go to song to try out the instrument. It doesn’t matter if it’s a keyboard, guitar, bass, harmonica, or what.
The song was written by Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne. Shayne wrote the music and Regney wrote the words, which was actually backwards for their partnership. It was written in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis as a call for peace. “Pray for peace people everywhere.” It was released that holiday season and became a hit. Even though we don’t hear it very much, it has been covered by hundreds of artists, including my elementary school chorus.
So, go on over to YouTube or your preferred streaming service and listen to two or three versions. You won’t be sorry.
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