The First Nowell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The First Nowell" ("The First Noël") is a traditional English Christmas carol, most likely from the 16th or 17th century, but possibly dating from as early as the 13th century. In its current form it is of Cornish origin, and it was first published in Some Ancient Christmas Carols (1823) and Gilbert and Sandys Christmas Carols (1833), edited by William Sandys and arranged, edited and extra lyrics written by Davies Gilbert. The melody is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of essentially the same musical phrase repeated three times, and ending on the third of the scale. It is thought to be a corruption of an earlier melody sung in a church gallery setting; a conjectural reconstruction of the earlier version can be found in the New Oxford Book of Carols (1992, ISBN 0193533235).
An orchestral arrangement, by Victor Hely-Hutchinson from his Carol Symphony, was memorably used as the theme to the BBC adaptation of John Masefield's seasonal fantasy adventure, The Box of Delights.
The word Nowell[1] comes from the French word Noël meaning "Christmas", from the Latin word natalis ("birth"). It may also be from the Gaulish words "noio" or "neu" meaning "new" and "helle" meaning "light" referring to the winter solstice when sunlight begins overtaking darkness.
Contents |
[edit] Lyrics
The first 'Nowell!' the angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter's night that was so deep.
Nowell! nowell! nowell! nowell!
Born is the King of Israel!
They lookèd up and saw a star
Shining in the east, beyond them far;
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night.
Nowell! nowell! nowell! nowell!
Born is the King of Israel!
And by the light of that same star
Three wise men came from country far;
To seek for a King was their intent,
And to follow the star wheresoever it went.
Nowell! nowell! nowell! nowell!
Born is the King of Israel!
This star drew nigh to the northwest:
O'er Bethlehem it took its rest;
And there it did both stop and stay,
Right over the place where Jesus lay.
Nowell! nowell! nowell! nowell!
Born is the King of Israel!
(*) Then did they know assuredly
Within that house the King did lie;
One entered in then for to see,
And found the Babe in poverty.
Nowell! nowell! nowell! nowell!
Born is the King of Israel!
Then entered in those wise men three,
Full reverently upon their knee,
And offered there, in his presence,
Both gold and myrrh, and frankincense.
Nowell! nowell! nowell! nowell!
Born is the King of Israel!
(*) Between an ox-stall and an ass
This Child there truly bornèd was;
For want of clothing they did him lay
All in the manger, among the hay.
Nowell! nowell! nowell! nowell!
Born is the King of Israel!
Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made heaven and earth of nought,
And with His blood mankind hath bought.
Nowell! nowell! nowell! nowell!
Born is the King of Israel!
(*) If we in our time shall do well
We shall be free from death and hell,
For God hath preparèd for us all
A resting-place in general.
Nowell! nowell! nowell! nowell!
Born is the King of Israel!
Verses marked with (*) are often omitted in modern performances.
[edit] Animaniacs parody
A parody of the song appeared on an episode of Animaniacs. In it, they use different scenes, the joke being that each verse involves someone saying something that sounds like the word 'nowell'.
In the first verse, Yakko Warner is showing his brother how to spell Santa Claus' name. Wakko was spelling it "Santla", but of course, Santa's name has No "L".
The second verse begins telling the story of Jack and Jill, but Jill(Dot Warner) is upset because the hill is empty. There's No well,
In the third verse, Captain Ahab searches for Moby Dick, but when he asks other ships, they "ain't seen No Whale."
In the final verse, the Warners admit that the tune of the parody is a song you should Know well. But their parody has completely ruined it... "Oh well"!
In one version its lyrics totally un-Christmas, as a recital of the alphabets. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, M, N, O, P ,Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. And someone would say hey you missed out the letter L! And we will continue with its chorus as No "L" No "L" ...
[edit] Other parodies
Another parody of The First Nowell appears as a 60-second holiday preview spot that would air every year, starting in 2003, on the digital cable network The Family Channel. However, it is transmitted to a song called "Never A Dull Mark Moment". Any of which, the song is a definite source of the channel's shows which would be shown on an upcoming event. The announcer's voice would be combined in a singing voice which would sound like one of the characters from Sesame Street, but this time, in a common vocal. On the 90's sitcom Home Improvement, Tim Taylor (host of the fictional show Tool Time) sings, "No Al, No Al, No Al, No Al, there is no Al on the show today!" because his assistant Al wasn't on the show that day.
[edit] Other versions
- Sir David Willcocks published his choral arrangement of the carol in the Carols for Choirs series of books. Occasionally one hears the King's College Choir perform this particular version at their Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
- In 1991, Canadian Folk-Rock band Crash Test Dummies released this song as a single from the compilation A Lump of Coal. A re-recorded version later appeared on their 2002 album Jingle All The Way.
- American rock guitarist Eric Johnson played an instrumental version on a Christmas guitar instumental album called Merry Axemas, released in 1997.
- The boy band *NSYNC once used this song in their album "Home for Christmas." It is Track 8 on the CD.
- Conor Oberst, better known as Bright Eyes, released this song in his A Christmas Album, along songs like "White Christmas" and "Silent Night".
- Noel was recorded by The Supremes but remained unreleased until 1999 when their Christmas Album, "Merry Christmas," was re-released with additional tracks.
- Whitney Houston recorded her own version on her 2003 album One Wish: The Holiday Album.
- Daryl Hall & John Oates released this song on their 2006 album Home For Christmas.
- Aly & AJ released this song on their 2006 album Acoustic Hearts of Winter.
- Third Day released a live version of this song for their 2006 album Christmas Offerings.
- Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan released her version of this song on her first Christmas album, Wintersong, in 2006.
- The Trans-Siberian Orchestra have worked the melody of "The First Nowell" into a number of their songs.
- My American Heart did a version of this song on the 2005 Taste Of Christmas compilation.
