"Joy to the World" is a popular Christmas carol.
The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship. Watts wrote the words of "Joy to the World" as a hymn glorifying Christ's triumphant return at the end of the age, rather than a song celebrating His first coming. Only the second half of Watts' lyrics are still used today.
The music was adapted and arranged to Watts' lyrics by Lowell Mason in 1839 from an older melody which was then believed to have originated from Handel, not least because the theme of the refrain (And heaven and nature sing...) appears in the orchestra opening and accompaniment of the recitative Comfort ye from Handel's Messiah, and the first four notes match the beginning of the choruses Lift up your heads and Glory to God from the same oratorio. However, Handel did not compose the entire tune. The name "Antioch" is generally used for the tune.
As of the late 20th century, "Joy to the World" was the most-published Christmas hymn in North America.
Read more about Joy To The World: Well-known Recordings, Lyrics, Lyric Variants, Parodies, Mariah Carey Version
Famous quotes containing the words the world, joy to, joy and/or world:
“I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is “Who in the world am I?” Ah, that’s the great puzzle!”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“Adam had learned the jolly deed of kind:
He took her in his arms and there and then
Like the clean beasts, embracing from behind,
Began in joy to found the breed of men.”
—Alec Derwent Hope (b. 1907)
“The writer’s joy is the thought that can become emotion, the emotion that can wholly become a thought.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“The hotel was once where things coalesced, where you could meet both townspeople and travelers. Not so in a motel. No matter how you build it, the motel remains the haunt of the quick and dirty, where the only locals are Chamber of Commerce boys every fourth Thursday. Who ever heard the returning traveler exclaim over one of the great motels of the world he stayed in? Motels can be big, but never grand.”
—William Least Heat Moon [William Trogdon] (b. 1939)