Why This Is My Favorite Christmas Album

Transcendent books change the world.

Transcendent songs change the world.

And transcendent stories...well they change everything!

In 1986, I was a senior business major in college. To help pay my way through school, I played violin on a scholarship in the university orchestra (I graduated with a minor in music). 

Every year, our Christmas concert attracted people from around the area because our music school was surprisingly talented (notwithstanding my participation!).

But I’ll never forget my senior year. We brought in a well-known guest conductor by the name of Ronn Huff. In my opinion, he was one of the greatest religious music arrangers of the 20^th century. He wrote some of the lushest string arrangements I’ve ever played.

The music he arranged for us that holiday season was breathtaking. Every song he assembled was memorable.

In fact, years later, I was listening to Christmas music on the radio, when I heard the very same arrangements on Amy Grant’s 1992 Home For Christmas album. After doing a little research, I discovered Ronn Huff was the album’s producer. Listen to it, sometime, and you’ll understand why I loved his renditions.

Breath of Heaven

Emmanuel

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

We played them all!

But there was one arrangement that didn’t find its way into Amy Grant's album—and I don’t know why. Don’t tell anyone, but I ran a photocopy of the 1st violin part and played it as a solo in churches around the Denver area for years to come.

It’s a song that actually played a role in the abolition movement back in the 1850s. And it’s my favorite Christmas song.

Please join me.

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Sometimes the Translation is Better Than the Original

As I mentioned in last week’s PWR, I’m focusing our final blog posts of the holiday season on Christmas songs, and what we as authors can learn from them…

In the mid-1840s, secular composer Adolphe Adam set to music a poem written by a leftist wine merchant named Placide Cappeau.

The carol, based on the poem “Minuit, Chrétiens,” (“Midnight, Christians”) became quite popular in France, although it drew criticism from the Catholic church for its militant tone and dubious theology. Nevertheless, French Catholics continued to sing it.

Eventually, the song made its way across the pond and became popular in French-speaking areas in Canada.

In 1855, John Sullivan Dwight, a Unitarian minister, translated the song into English.

Directly translated, the chorus in French lectures the listeners: People kneel down, wait for your deliverance.

Dwight changed the English translation of the chorus to, Fall on your knees; O hear the angel voices.

Big difference, isn’t it? Sometimes the translation is better than the original.

I’m sure most of you recognize the name of the Christmas carol: O Holy Night.

But Dwight’s translation of the third verse, which is my favorite, made a HUGE difference,

A direct translation of the original French goes:

The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle.
The Earth is free, and Heaven is open. 
He sees a brother where there was only a slave. 
Love unites those whom iron had chained. 

Here’s the improved English translation:

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is Peace. 
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother 
And in His name, all oppression shall cease. 

Dwight was an ardent abolitionist, and his words became a rallying cry for his fellow abolitionists. 

People of faith like me believe that Jesus embodied true love, and that he called us to love sacrificially, just like him. Years later, St. Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Abolitionists sought to humanize the African slaves. To show their fellow white Americans that in Christ, the slaves are our brothers and sisters, and worthy of freedom of oppression.

O Holy Night inspired many to bring freedom to the captives.

Here’s What We Can Learn From John Sullivan Dwight

So what can we learn from this story?

Don't underestimate the role inspiration plays in changing behavior. Dwight’s rendition transformed a command into an invitation.

Nobody wants to be lectured or preached at. In fact, when somebody tells me to do something, my immediate reaction is to do the opposite.

The number one way to change a person’s behavior is by touching their emotions. Most people make decisions based on emotions and then justify them with logic.

Read that again.

Books that change the world (or even just a corner of the world) invite their readers into a compelling story. And yes, nonfiction authors, that includes you. 

Even the most didactic books can—and should—begin with a strong hook. Tell a story that begins with dialogue. Identify with your audience and press hard on their pain points. Then take them on a journey.

You need more than profound lyrics or a beautiful melody. The true classics, like O Holy Night, combine both inspiring lyrics and a beautiful melody. 

As an author, you write the inspiring lyrics. Sometimes you need a coach to help refine your lyrics, but the message begins with you.

But if you wrap your powerful message or story in an ugly package, no one will want to read to it. A poorly produced book drives your readers away. 

Please don’t invest your blood, sweat, and tears into a beautiful manuscript and then waste it by going the cheap and easy route and publishing it yourself.

 Let Illumify provide the beautiful melody.

Publishing insiders constantly tell me, “Mike, the quality of Illumify’s books are at the top of the industry.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the quality of your cover determines the speed by which a person reads your book and recommends it to their friends.

Don't waste your time generating an inferior interior design through KDP or some other auto-generated process.

Your manuscript deserves a team of professionals who partner with you in releasing a transcendent book.

This week is my last week of work in 2023. I have a few more openings in my schedule before I take off the week between Christmas and New Year's.

Click here to schedule a meeting and let's explore the possibilities of your book idea.

Let’s bring your book to life!