Joy to the World |
One of the greatest Christmas carols involves the contributions of three men, with the first two working independently of each other. The first was the great 17th-century British hymn writer, Isaac Watts. The second was the great 18th-century German-British composer, Handel. The third was an American musician who later married a poem by Watts with music by Handel and gave us one of our most beloved Christmas Carols, “Joy to the World.”
Many years ago, I went to England to videotape some things for Christian television. In London, because of the town's history, they have blue circles (about a foot in diameter) in front of various buildings to commemorate famous residents.
Well, there were two buildings in one neighborhood, side by side. And they had two separate blue circle plaques. And one of them said that composer George Frideric Handel lived here (I had to look it up: from 1723 to 1759). And I became very excited. “Wow. This is so great.”
Well, my camera crew said, “Look! In this building, Guitarist Jimi Hendrix lived here” (I looked it up also: this was his last official residence. He died in 1970). And I was like, “Who cares? We’re talking about Handel here.” And they said, “Who cares? We’re talking about Jimi Hendrix here.”
Well, different strokes for different folks. Tastes differ. But we all know I was right.........