Joy To The World

Year: 1719

Written By: Isaac Watts

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Joy to the world the Lord has come, the words that fill the hearts of Christians and others around the world with joy during the Christmas holidays. This song explains all that is Christmas. It tells of the birth of the baby Jesus and the reason for the season. Not the commercialism that is so associated with the holiday today, the true reason that Christ was born to save us all from our sins.

Isaac Watts had this very thing in mind when he wrote the hymn in 1719 after a request from his father, the pastor of their church, to give the congregation something new to sing. Watts was 18 when he wrote the song and it was published in his book The psalms of David, imitated in the language of the New Testament and applied to the Christian state and worship. The song glorifies Christ triumphant return.

The Christmas carol's music was possibly adapted from Handel's Messiah and arranged by composer Lowell Mason to the tune Antioch. Watts has been called the father of English Hymnody and based the song on the 98^th psalms in the new testament of the bible.

Joy to the world was the most published hymn in North America as late as the 20^th century. And it is no wonder since everyone loves to listen to it during the Christmas holidays. It is belted out from TV's, radios and churches and synagogues across the world.

Many different artists have sung Joy to the World over the years. Some of the most popular are an instrumental version by conductor Percy Faith in 1954, the European group Bonnie M. in 1984, The legendary Supremes in 1965 and Andy Williams in 1974. He recorded it in a medium to slow ballad like style. In 1994, Mariah Carey recorded the song in a dance-pop style. Whitney Houston recorded it in 1996 and then again in 2003. The last person to record it was country star Clay Aiken in 2004.

While there are many religions in the world and many different beliefs, everyone seems to put aside their differences at Christmas and try to get along. I think the song Joy to the World goes a long way towards making that happen. No matter which rendition of the song you choose to listen to from the original to the pop-rock version you can be assured that Joy to the World will be gladdening hearts all across the world come Christmas time.