The Animals' Christmas

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As recommended by Gary Sanders, our blog post today looks at “The Animals’ Christmas”--an 80's album with Art Garfunkel, Amy Grant, and an elaborate English children’s choir. In Gary's words, "It is best listened to at night, lights low, tree lights twinkling, with a cup of cider.  (Yes, my family knows my obsession with this album, and unanimously despise it.)" 

Even if you're not a Garfunkel fan, what's neat about this album is its perspective and its deep imagination for Scripture. Each song tells the biblical Christmas story as it related to animals--and many of the songs are from the animals' perspective:
  • "The Creatures of the Field," for example, takes place in the moment after the angel Gabriel appears to announce Jesus' coming to Mary.  Mary is pacing the room (no doubt considering all that the angel said) and the animals decide to sing her a lullaby to help ease her fears...the next song ("Just a Simple Little Tune") is the lullaby that the animals--crickets, nightingales, etc...--sing to Mary
  • My personal favorite is "The Frog" who has to hop in order to see the manger from where he sits. The other animals laugh at him and call him ugly, but the Christ child laughs in delight.
  • Later in the album, we find the lumbering song of camels traveling to find the manger, the rustling flutter of birds who sing "Noel!" to the world,  and the soaring harmonies of geese who "point straight and true" in order to show others where to find the manger too.
If nothing else, this album teaches us to imagine (What if?) and it opens us up to different perspectives. Truly, God's story is larger and more extraordinary than we could ever experience alone. I thank God for the many different passions and perspectives that make up The Church--and, this Advent, I pray that we'll each find a way to be part of God's story.






(if you don't have a spotify account, here's a youtube sample)

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