Song View

The origin of the text of this Christmas carol is unknown, but is likely to be in the USA. That it was written by Martin Luther, as is sometimes claimed, is just a legend. There are two different melodies to the same text. The older one by James R. Murray is mainly sung in evangelical churches in the USA. The younger one (created in 1895) was written by William James Kirkpatrick and is sung in Great Britain. This melody can be heard in the video.