December 18

Mary’s Boy Child

by  Sharon Rosing
                                                                                                                                                                              
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBwuwjgLEGQ

Even though many think that Harry Belafonte wrote the song, “Mary’s Boy Child”, it was really written by Jester Hairston in 1956.  Hairston was asked to write a song for a friend’s birthday party. He wrote the song with a calypso rhythm because the people at the party would be mainly West Indians. It was originally called "He Pone and Chocolate Tea". Later Walter Schumann, a famous choir conductor, asked Hairston to write a new Christmas song for his choir. Hairston remembered the calypso rhythm from his old song and wrote new lyrics for it based on the Christmas story told in the Bible. Belafonte heard the song being performed by the choir and sought permission to record it. It was recorded in 1957 and sold over 1 million copies.

I have fond memories of one of the Noah’s Place’s Christmas programs where the children sang “Mary’s Boy Child”.  As they began the song, they were all sitting down, but when it was time for the chorus part, “Hark, now hear the angels sing”, the little angels would pop up and sing that part as loud as they could! 

The part of the song that really stands out for me is the final phrase, “Man can live for evermore, because of Christmas Day”. Without Jesus being born, we would not be saved and given the gift of eternal “evermore” life.

John 1:5: "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”