What Child Is This? (feat. Greensleeves)

Christmas Carols Explained, #18

I remember getting in…well, not an ‘argument’, because he was 6’4” and 300 lbs, but a ‘discussion’ with a co-worker once who was whistling the melody of “What Child is This?” in September. He insisted he had “Greensleeves” stuck in his head while I was convinced it was a Christmas song.

Turns out we’re both sort of right.

“Greensleeves” is a traditional secular English song dating back to the 16th Century, a ballad of love with a storied past. However, in the 19th Century the melody was adapted for a Christmas carol by William Chatterton Dix, and since 1865 we’ve had a more solemn, contemplative hymn about the birth of Christ.

There are many powerful arrangements of this song but none of them hit harder for me than the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s composition, which adds a variation to the story that has always stirred my soul. The lyrics of this track sing about an old man reflecting back on his life at Christmas time, possibly near the end of his life, and finding the means of change through Christ.

In particular this added line has always punched me in the heart: Could you be this old, and have your life just begin?

That’s always been evocative of repentance and conversion to me. Which, ultimately is all made possible by having a Savior in the first place—something God promised to His people for thousands of years, and finally delivered in Bethlehem all those centuries ago. Ages for us, but the blink of an eye to an eternal Being.

Keep the eternal perspective, and know that you’re never too old to start walking the path He would have you walk.