Merry Christmas

My favorite Christmas carol is "O Holy Night," in part because the French-to-English translation of its lyrics led to some interesting phrasing. I mean, how often do you hear the world "pining" for something? In any case, the song paints a portrait of a serene, loving Jesus, "in all our trials/born to be our friend." Whether you're Christian or not, it's a comforting image.

The song itself contains some operatic flourishes, so it's a favorite of musicians who need to crank out a Christmas album. They tend to leave out or change some of the verses (since the popular "O night" refrain only occurs once in the traditional version), but you usually don't see alterations as extreme as Eric Cartman's rendition: