Deck the Halls - A Christmas Music Countdown

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
'Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Don we now our gay apparel,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Troll the ancient Yule tide carol,
Fa la la la la, la la la la."

Deck the condo now by golly
Fa la la la la, la la la lah
To wait another day is folly
Fa la la la la, la la la lah
Christmas concerts by the barrel
Fa la la fa la la la la lah
Life is one big Christmas Carol
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

I’d have had my place decorated a week ago if I hadn’t been so darned organized. I thought I bagged up my lights and threw them helter-skelter as I’ve done for about 30 years. But last year, I got the organization bug and boxed them up properly and put right under the decorations box. So I couldn’t find them until earlier this
week. Fa la la la la la la la lah.

“Deck the Halls” is a traditional Yuletide and New Years' carol. The “fa-la-la” refrains were probably originally played on the harp. The tune is Welsh dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter carol, Nos Galan. In the 18th century, Mozart used the tune to “Deck the Halls” for a violin and piano duet. The repeated "fa la la" is from medieval ballads and used in Nos Galan, the remaining lyrics are American in origin dating from the nineteenth century.

Translation of the original, Welsh "New Year's Eve" (“Nos Galan”) or "Cold is the Man"

Cold is the man who cannot love,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la,
The old mountains of dear Wales,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la,
To him and his warmest friend,
Fa la, Fa la, fa la la,
A cheerful holiday next year,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.
To the troubled, cold are the bills,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la,
Which come during the holidays,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la,
Listening to a sermon in one verse,
Fa la, Fa la, fa la la,
Spending more than you earn,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.
Cold is the fire on Mount Snowdon,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la,
Even though it has a flannel blanket on it,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la,
Cold are the people who don't care,
Fa la, Fa la, fa la la,
To meet together on New Year's Eve,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.



The tune is that of an old Welsh air, first found in a musical manuscript by Welsh harpist John Parry Ddall (c. 1710–1782), but undoubtedly much older than that. The composition is still popular as a dance tune in Wales, and was published in the 1784 and 1794 editions of the harpist Edward Jones's Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards. Poet John Ceiriog Hughes wrote the first published lyrics for the piece in Welsh, titling it “Nos Galan” ("New Year's Eve"). A middle verse was later added by folk singers. In the eighteenth century the tune spread widely, with Mozart using it in a piano and violin concerto and, later, Haydn in the song “New Year's Night.”

Originally, carols were dances and not songs. The accompanying tune would have been used as a setting for any verses of appropriate metre. Singers would compete with each other, verse for verse — known as canu penillion dull y De (“singing verses in the southern style”). The church actively opposed these folk dances. Consequently, tunes originally used to accompany carols became separated from the original dances, but were still referred to as “carols.”

The popular English lyrics for this carol are not a translation from the Welsh. The connection with dancing is made explicit in the English lyrics by the phrase “follow me in merry measure” as “measure” is a synonym for dance. A collection of such 16th and 17th century dances danced at the Inns of Court in London are called the Old Measures. Dancing itself, having been previously suppressed by the church, was revived during the Renaissance beginning in 15th century Italy.

During the Victorian re-invention of Christmas, it was turned into a traditional English Christmas song. The first English version appeared in The Franklin Square Song Collection, edited by J.P.McCaskey in 1881.
* Source: Wikipedia


One half of one string is not lighting on my tree. I have plenty of lights, so I’ll just have to take that string off and replace it with another. That’s why I do a light check before a single ornament on the tree. The other reason is my cats have to get sitting under the tree out of their systems. The tree makes them think they’re outside and they jump right up on the table, shaking the tree. But they should be over it this weekend.