I confess I have a love-meh relationship with “Silent Night”. In the US, it’s the über Christmas carol, closing out just about every holiday concert from grade school to master chorales. I feel oversaturated with it.
But it’s ubiquitous for a reason: its simplicity gets to
the heart of the Nativity—an ordinary, quiet night, a new couple make do for
accommodation with stable animals, but the birth of the Messiah. A few
straightforward verses, three-quarter time, you can play it on any instrument
around and even little children can master it. (-Ish.) It’s been translated
into probably every language on the planet as a gateway to the whole story; I’ve
certainly learned it in every language I’ve studied.
I’m giving you the Spanish version, sung by Andrea Bocelli, because it does feel appropriate for this particular Christmas Eve, when people all over the US are being rounded up and tossed in prison (citizen or not) for the crime of speaking Spanish. Reenacting the persecutions of Herod—so on-brand.
©2025 Bas Bleu
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