Carol to the King

Christmas Carols Explained, #15

I spent two Christmases in Utah working as the Receiving Lead at a bookstore. If you’ve ever done retail through the season, you know what kind of a grind it is, and how the music can pick a tune on your brain. Fortunately this was a Church-owned bookstore so it wasn’t pop music, unless there was a popstar performing with the then-Mormon Tabernacle Choir (since renamed the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.)

If you’re unfamiliar, the Choir and Orchestra put on a Christmas concert every December, and then the following year they release a CD of the performance. We employees got free copies of those, and it was on the 2008 album Rejoice And Be Merry! that I first became familiar with this song, “Carol to the King.” I have never heard another arrangement of it and I love this one tremendously.

Unfortunately…I can’t find out anything about its origins through my Web searches. The Grok portal can’t seem to sort through information about it either, perhaps due to its ambiguous name. It doesn’t help that the guests at that year’s MOTAB concert were called “The King’s Singers.” Even the cesspool of the Internet, Wikipedia, doesn’t have information on this specific track on this specific album.

Note: this song is not to be confused with “A Carol to the King” which was copyrighted in 2019, written by Sally DeFord.

My best guess, then, is that this is an original composition by someone affiliated with either the Choir or the Singers. Right now I’m in the dark for more information. So just enjoy the music above, and here are the lyrics below:

Can you hear the distant music,
sounding from the pipe and horn?
Bearing news of joy and gladness,
Christ, the King of heav'n is born.

Angels, too, resound the anthem,
To the children of the earth,
Calling all to hear the tidings,
Of the blessed Savior's birth.

Hear them sing, ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-re
Li-tam-pon, la-de-ri-tam-pon
The fife and angel voices ring

Ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-re
Li-tam-pon, la-de-ri-tam-pon
They all rejoice with songs they sing
To bring the world a newborn King.

Feel the music stir your senses,
Like a mighty trumpet call,
Wakening the world from slumber,
Calling out to one and all.

From the village, from the country,
Let us join the holy throng,
As we hasten to the manger,
That we, too, may join the song.

As we sing, ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-re
Li-tam-pon, la-de-ri-tam-pon
The fife and angel voices ring.

Ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-re
Li-tam-pon, la-de-ri-tam-pon
We all rejoice with songs we sing
To bring the world a newborn King.

Enter now the holy stable,
To behold the blessed sight.
This is Christ, the Lord, the Savior,
Pure and filled with holy light.

Tune your heart to hear His music,
Feel the glory of His love.
Let us worship and adore Him,
Wondrous Child of God above.

Raise your voice, ta-ra-ra-ra, ta-ra-re
Li-tam-pon, la-de-ri-tam-pon
The fife and angel voices ring.

Ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-re
Li-tam-pon, la-de-ri-tam-pon
We all rejoice with songs we sing
To bring the world a newborn King.

Ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-re
Li-tam-pon, la-de-ri-tam-pon
We all rejoice with songs we sing,
To tell us all to rise and sing,
To bring the world a newborn King.