Friday, December 24, 2021

It's Christmas Eve, Baby!!!

From their fabulous Below the Salt album, please enjoy the greatest Elizabethan rock band of all time -- Steeleye Span -- and a stunning version of the venerable nativity song "Gaudete."

The album came out in 1972, but the carol itself is unquestionably the oldest song ever to make the British pop charts. Nobody knows exactly when it was written, but it was originally published in 1582(!). To put that in perspective, William Shakespeare was 18 years of age at the time.

Have a great holiday weekend, everybody!!!

4 comments:

Jai Guru Dave said...

Steve,
You played this for me, probably in 1972, and It blew me away to the point that I got you to lend me the record so that I could record it onto my reel to reel tape recorder. (I guess I didn’t have the money to buy the album myself).
Every time I listened to the tape, those harmonies just slayed me; and they did again this morning. But, speaking no Latin, I had no idea until today that it was a Christmas song! Who knew? (Apparently, everyone else but me).
Does anyone know what the word “Gaudete” means?

steve simels said...

I believe it means rejoice.

pete said...

Christus est natus means "Christ is born." That's pretty much all the Latin I know (although my sister used to teach the subject) except E Pluribus Unum. Thanks for posting.

Jai Guru Dave said...

Gaudete! Christus est natus everybody.