For as long as I can remember, “O Come All Ye Faithful” has been one of the classic carols that has come to symbolize much of what the Christmas Story is all about. The lyrics are lovely. The message being that an event of great joy has just happened and can be shared by all those who believe. I have sung this song for years. To me, it evokes feelings of warmth and community and hopefulness. But then I started doing the research for, what I imagined, was to be a simple and straight-forward post only to discover a web of conspiracy theories about the true meaning of this song. If you, like me, are a fan of The Curse of Oak Island TV show, then you will be all too familiar with how easily a seemingly outlandish theory can make any scenario seem somewhat plausible. With that being said, in this post I will present to you for your consideration the probable, commonly-held theory of the origins of this carol, the conspiracy theory that many believe is the real story, and I will end with the Punk Rock rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful” that is faithful to the original carol all the while turning the song’s meaning on its ear! Buckle up, ye faithful, the ride is about to get bumpy! Here we go!!!!!!
Throughout the entire time I have been alive, “O Come All Ye Faithful” has been used to tell an integral part of the story of the birth of the Baby Jesus. Whenever I have spoken to students at school about the background of this carol, I have always associated it with that newborn babe in a manger. Always. Accordingly, my research has shown that no one knows who first created the lyrics to “O Come All Ye Faithful” because the carol is hundreds and hundreds of years old. However, the most commonly held theory is that the first half of the song was written as a hymn by a monastic order known as The Cistercians almost a thousand years ago. The Cistercians were monks who believed that purity of soul could be achieved through manual labour and strict adherence to the spiritual teachings of the Catholic Church. This religious order was headquartered in France. As was often the case with language that long ago, sacred prayers and songs were eventually recorded by scribes who would painstakingly copy the words by hand using calligraphy and artistic flourishes to print the words into individual books. The first printed version of “O Come All Ye Faithful” was made by English hymnist John Francis Wade and was given its Latin title, “Adeste Fideles”. Wade was living in northern France at the time and gained a reputation for the craftsmanship he exhibited when copying important texts. The John Wade printed version was finished in the mid-1700s (with the English translation by Frederick Oakeley a century later). It is Oakeley’s translated version of “Adeste Fideles” that has come to be known as the version we call “O Come All Ye Faithful” today.
However, when I was constructing my research for this post I came across a theory that turns the origin story of “O Come All Ye Faithful” completely upside down. If you have been following my series on classical music, you will remember a post I wrote concerning the composer George Frideric Handel and his famous composition known simply as “Water Music”. In order to understand the theory that I am about to present, it will be helpful to stop and re-read the Handel post, paying particular attention to the events surrounding the legal maneuvering that King Henry VIII started that resulted in the Catholic Church losing its authority in England and future Catholics being banned from ever ascending to the throne of England. *(That post can be read here). When King Henry VIII set about to end the influence of the Catholic Church and, by association, began to persecute those who followed the Catholic faith, his efforts were resisted by those most affected by these new laws. Over time, various Catholic factions organized themselves with the intent of overthrowing the English monarchy and re-installing the House of Stuart (Catholics) to the throne. One of those groups that began to organize against the throne became known as The Jacobites. This was a group that formed to oppose the coronation of Queen Mary and her husband King William III (who came into power when the last Catholic monarch, James II, was overthrown in an event known as The Glorious Revolution). In Latin, the name “James” is written as “Jacobus”. Thus, supporters of James II became known as The Jacobites.
Are ya still with me? I hope so. Here we go. The conspiracy theory regarding “O Come All Ye Faithful” is that John Francis Wade, the hymnist who so eloquently copied the original manuscript of “Adeste Fideles” from the Cistercian monks was, in fact, a Jacobean sympathizer. Wade was a Catholic person living in exile in France after the initial Jacobite Uprising was quashed. The theory is that the reason he decided to focus attention on “Adeste Fideles” at this time in history, after three or four hundred years had passed since the hymn was first created, was to use the printed version as a rallying cry for supporters of the Jacobean Movement to come together for one last attempt to overthrow the Monarchy. The hymn was said to have been used by Wade as a cipher, or a code, for his true intentions. Apparently, in Jacobean circles, England was often referred to in code as Bethlehem, Jesus was meant to actually stand for Scotsman Bonnie Prince Charlie, and the faithful being summoned were those Jacobites who remained at large after the initial uprising was crushed. If you make the substitutions as listed above, the hymn becomes a clarion call for revolution. Supporters of this theory also point to the floral flourishes that decorate the edges of the pages of Wade’s carefully drawn script as being consistent with symbols used by the Catholic House of Stuart prior to their banishment from England. If you like a good conspiracy theory, then this one purports to have us believe that the original printed version of “O Come All Ye Faithful” has nothing to do with the birth of the Baby Jesus at all but, instead, is a relic from a religious war in England.
The founders of the Punk band Bad Religion couldn’t care less about either theory. The band was formed almost forty years ago by singer Greg Graffin, guitarist and songwriter Brett Gurewitz and drummer Jay Bentley. Right from the very beginning, Bad Religion has taken aim at organized religion and the damage that entities such as The Catholic Church have committed over the centuries all around the world in the name of God and Jesus. The band believes that the Catholic Church is not so much a pious, charitable religious organization as it is a political one whose most direct aim is power, money and control. I first heard of Bad Religion way back in the 1980s when I joined the good old Columbia Record Club and was ordering CDs left, right and centre. One of the CDs I ordered was called MTV 120 Live. That compilation CD was based upon a show on MTV that showcased new alternative songs. One of my favourite songs from that CD was called “American Jesus” by Bad Religion. That song was about how religion had been co-opted by the religious right in America and how injustice was being committed in the name of Jesus and how symbols such as crucifixes were being used almost as shields to absolve those un-Christians of their cruel and evil deeds. “American Jesus” came out at a time when Televangelists were at the height of their public popularity.
As it turns out, the members of Bad Religion are not just a bunch of illiterate screamers and thrashers. Singer Greg Graffin holds a PhD in Evolutionary Biology from Cornell University (the same university that “Andy” from The Office graduated from in upstate New York). Meanwhile, songwriter/guitarist Brett Gurewitz is the president and CEO of the influential indie record label known as Epitaph. This record label was the one that helped initially launch the careers of many punk bands, such as The Offspring, Rancid, Jawbreaker, etc. These men are actually quite articulate, which helps to give their songs a bit more of a literate and poetic punch. With regard to “O Come All Ye Faithful”, the members of Bad Religion were followers of the news and were as shocked and shaken as anyone when the stories started to emerge of hundreds of children who had been sexually abused by Catholic priests all over the world. Graffin and Gurewitz both had hoped that the latest Catholic Pope, Pope Francis, would accept blame for these horrendous acts and would launch reforms aimed at allowing the victims to begin the process of healing. When such reforms were initially not forthcoming (*They have been as of 2019. You can read a news article about it here.), Bad Religion decided to do that most punkish of things: they recorded an album of Christmas carols and donated part of the profits to funds created for victims of sexual abuse by the Catholic Church. Using the Church’s own hymns as a mechanism for compensating victims of abuse by the Church is using the punk mentality in spades. Every carol on their album called Christmas Songs is sung using the actual lyrics as written hundreds of years ago. The only difference is that the carol has been thrashed, amped up and given a musical treatment that makes it an unmistakable punk tune. As was the case with the UK band Chumbawamba that I wrote about here, there is often a core part of the Punk manifesto that states that railing against injustice is a good thing and that making restitution on behalf of victims of said injustice is a desirable outcome of a punk band’s musical efforts. I will leave it up to you to decide for yourselves if this punk version of “O Come All Ye Faithful” is your cup of tea. For what it is worth, I love it! Play it loud. It has become a staple of my holiday playlist.
Happy Holidays to you all, except for you Jacobites, who are being taken to the proverbial woodshed by the members of Bad Religion. One of the most basic beliefs that I hold is that I truly and sincerely believe that children are a gift to the world and that they should be protected at all costs. Anyone who commits acts that go against that belief deserves more than lumps of coal in their stockings, let me tell you. It is one thing to commemorate and venerate the birth of a child forced to sleep in a stable. It is entirely another to enact policies that separate them from their families (residential school system in Canada), lock them in cages (U.S./Mexico border), use them as trophies of war (Russia with Ukrainian hostages) and/or as sexual playthings (the Catholic Church). As a society we need to do so much better for those we bring into this world. I think of this every time I play “O Come All Ye Faithful” by Bad Religion. This punk classic is the true embodiment of the spirit of Christmas for me. May it be so for you as well.
The link to the video for “O Come All Ye Faithful” as sung by Bad Religion can be found here. ***Please note that this song uses the exact same lyrics as the classic carol. If you know the words to that, then you know the words to the Bad Religion version. This is my way of saying that there is no lyrics video for this song, nor is there a live version, either.
The link to the official website for Bad Religion can be found here.
The link to the video of a more traditional rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful” can be found here.
As per usual in these punk music posts, I wish to take a moment to acknowledge that the title for this series comes from a line in the song “Boxcar” by the band Jawbreaker. Please take a moment and head on over to their website. They have lots of things such as show tickets, cool t-shirts, music, etc., that would all make wonderful gifts for someone you love. Show these guys some love as a thank you for letting me borrow their lyric. Thanks. The link to their website can be found here.
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