The Ornaments is by musician and singer-songwriter Craig Werth, who also home-recorded it. This is another track from Christine Lavin’s Just One Angel v.2.0 album compiled to provide a showcase for independent singer-songwriters. (See here for info about Christine.) Craig has since included this song on a self-published digital album called Sampler for the Season.
Singing, song-writing and playing multiple instruments aren’t Craig’s only gigs. He also has a day-job as pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Nottingham Community Church in Newmarket, New Hampshire.
Gong Xi Gong Xi, recorded here as Congratulations (A Happy New Year Christmas Song), was written in 1945 by Chen Gexin, a writer and composer of Chinese pop songs. He lived in Shanghai, China which had been occupied by the Japanese during World War II. The Mandarin song was written to celebrate the end of the war, using “winter” as a metaphor to represent the long period of occupation. (see the English translation of the song below.)
But when the song was recorded in 1946 by the sisters Yao Lee and Yao Min “winter” took on its literal meaning and the song has become a very popular and enduring favourite for celebrating the Chinese New Year, which also marks the end of winter. The song even has its own Wikipedia entry! You can hear the sisters’ version of the song, with subtitled translation and a slideshow, here.
According to some Chinese linguists the phrase Gong Xi as used in this song is difficult to translate because English doesn’t have a good parallel expression. For the song’s original meaning, when “Gong Xi Gong Xi” became a commonly used greeting expressing congratulations to people for their personal achievement of having survived the occupation, it is accurate. But in the context of it having evolved into a common New Year greeting – the equivalent of us saying “Happy New Year!” – some suggest that “felicitations” would be more accurate, but that bland expression doesn’t quite cut it either.
This recording is by the Portland, Oregon “lounge orchestra” Pink Martini and features China Forbes and Timothy Yuji Nishimoto singing the duet. It is from the group’s 2010 album Joy to the World. As a seasonal music album it is one of my favourites. It is also probably the most culturally diverse. Besides this song in Mandarin it includes beautiful versions of Christmas songs in Japanese, Ukranian, Italian, German and Arabic; Hanukkah songs in Hebrew and Ladino; and it ends with Auld Lang Syne in French and Arabic as well as the original Scot’s dialect. All that without seeming contrived!
Lyrics
These Ornaments
by Craig Werth April, 2013, Newmarket, NH
www.craigwerth.com, craig@craigwerth.comNested up in paper, a ball of see-through glass,
the color flaked and settled some distant Christmas past,
carried from the homeland, its hook now rough with rust,
suspends the ancient memories in pink and silver dust.There’s a four-inch, 5-string banjo made with a bottle cap,
a choir of clothes pin angels, robed in satin wrap,
there’s an origami figure, folded by young hands,
the day her grandpa showed her, and told her, “yes, you can.”Who will keep these ornaments and love them as I do?
who will tell their stories from when the old was new?
who will hold these treasures -- this box of jewels and toys,
and spirits of the long lost folks who once were girls and boys?A pewter angel flying, her face a single pearl,
passing through our Christmas tree – one stop around the world,
as I was told it, she fell from up above,
and each time that I found her there I found the light of love.Who will keep these ornaments and love them as I do?
who will tell their stories from when the old was new?
who will hold these treasures -- this box of jewels and toys,
and spirits of the long lost folks who once were girls and boys?There's a tiny, ruddy row boat, carved from a peach's stone,
it's one my father made me, one night he was alone.
there's a cracked ceramic owl -- my mother's favorite bird,
the one, at night, she'd listen for -- the last one that she heard,Who will keep these ornaments and love them as I do?
who will tell their stories from when the old was new?
who will hold these treasures -- this box of jewels and toys,
and spirits of the long lost folks who once were girls and boys?I have been the keeper of all these Christmas gems,
I've memorized the history for each and every one of them,
I wrote it in this letter for someone good to find,
and now that you are reading this, would you be so kind…Please keep these ornaments and love them as I did,
tell their stories, and teach them to the kids,
hold up these treasures -- this box of jewels and toys,
and spirits of we long lost folks who once were girls and boys.
Congratulations (A Happy New Year Christmas Song)
written by Chen Gexin, 1945
translation from the album’s liner notesOn every avenue and in every lane,
On every person’s body's lips,
The first thing people say when they meet you is
"Congratulations, congratulations,
Congratulations, congratulations to you!”Winter has reached its last
This is really good news
A warm spring wind is about to revive the land
"Congratulations, congratulations,
Congratulations, congratulations to you!”The silvery ice will melt away
We’ll watch the plum trees blossom
When this endless night is over
We’ll hear the rooster’s crow usher in the dawn
"Congratulations, congratulations,
Congratulations, congratulations to you!”We’ve been through so much hardship
We’ve endured so many struggles
So many hearts have been longing
Longing for news of Spring
"Congratulations, congratulations,
Congratulations, congratulations to you!”
Share this post