The Original Lyrics to “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”

The _tune_ we now commonly use for "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in the 1840s (for the Gutenberg Cantata that this blog post talks about) -- but the _lyrics_ were originally written in the 1730s by noted English Methodist Charles Wesley (who wrote many, many Christian hymns). The Wikipedia article on this song has a more accurate synopsis of its history:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hark!_The_Herald_Angels_Sing

One thing about church music is that many melodies can be interchangeable. There is often a Metrical Index in your hymnal, and tunes are identified often by names (ALL CAPS) and metrical numbers. So it is often the case (Ode to Joy) that there are three sets of lyrics set to the same tune, as well as several different tunes to sing a single text (Mass parts take this to an extreme: how many ways to sing the Kyrie or Pater Noster?)

That's some poor research. I mean Jesus, spend 10 minutes with a search engine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3M2DMzXPqo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festgesang

https://translate.google.com/?sl=auto&tl=en&text=1.%20Choral...

The article talks about songs about inventions, a couple that spring to mind:

Lily the Pink by The Scaffold (about a medicinal drink)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_the_Pink_(song)

The album "Making of a New World" by Field Music is about the lasting impact of World War I and several of the songs are about inventions:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_a_New_World#Technologic...

Including sonar/ultrasound, skin grafts, sanitary napkins.

And Stainless Style by Neon Neon is a concept album about John Delorean's efforts to build the DMC DeLorean.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_Style

Hark! The herald angels sing, Joe's Diarrhea Pills are just the thing! Peace on Earth and mercy mild, Two for adult and one for child.