Saturday, December 20: “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 (Carol of the Bells),” The Trans-Siberian Orchestra
You don’t plan to become a Christmas rock legend. One minute, you’re just trying to merge while someone in the back of your car yells that they forgot their shoes. Then the music kicks in. Bold, dramatic, and cinematic enough to make even traffic feel epic. Suddenly, your turn signal becomes a metronome, your hands tighten on the wheel, and something inside you awakens. Before long, you’re completely locked into the greatest imaginary guitar solo the world will never see.
Originally a Ukrainian New Year’s folk chant called “Shchedryk,” the song welcomed a season of hope and provision. In the early 1900s, it was adapted into the Christmas carol we now know as “Carol of the Bells”—a hymn proclaiming Christ’s coming. Decades later, Trans-Siberian Orchestra reimagined that quiet carol into a symphonic rock anthem that is bigger, louder, and meant to be felt as much as heard.
Psalm 98:4 says, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.” Some days, that joyful noise sounds like a choir. Other days, it sounds like electric guitars cutting through Christmas traffic.
Conversation Starter:
“What does it mean to you to make a joyful noise to the Lord?”
Thanks for listening to Day 14 of Advent: For the Record! All of our resources are funded by donors like you. We’d love for you to consider becoming a part of our community of givers. Check us out at Axis.org!