Story Behind the Christmas Carol "The Gift Unwrapped"

It happened like this…

The dreadful memories of that fateful night on December 5, 1985, 10 minutes before we crossed into a new day, will forever remain lodged in my mind. 

That last image of the speeding public bus before it slammed into the car I was riding in and flipping it over, still comes up in high resolution when I closed my eyes.  And the helpless feeling that washed over me as the front tyre of the behemoth pinned us down, using the car as an impromptu ski, as it crashed through two bus lengths of railings before the stunned driver hit his brakes. In a blink, its massive weight folded the front seat over the young passenger like two halves of a hamburger.

That would have been my seat had he not motioned me to take the rear before that fateful journey.

The impact of that watershed event altered my perspective of life.  Forever.  

What fitting gift can I offer to JESUS for saving me?  This lingering thought swam in circles in my mind.

Speaking in Psalm 50:10, GOD declares: 
For all the animals of the forest are mine,
    and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.

And may I add, He also owns the forest and those thousand hills.

He owns everything.  He doesn’t need anything.

However, in Psalm 119:108, the Psalmist said “Lord, accept my offering of praise.” 

GOD desires our praise as an offering of thanksgiving!  He is satisfied with that.

How about I compose a Christmas carol for Him?  Folks need to know why JESUS came.  Yes! Yes, a Christmas carol it will be.

But wait… How do I structure the verses to smooth the way for a music composer to stitch a melody onto them?  I’m flying in uncharted territory here.

Lemme go look up the popular carols in the hymnbook.  They should throw some light to relieve my cluelessness.  

Oh… so the verses that rhyme carry the same number of syllables.  I couldn’t find other unique features.

Wow!  I need to straitjacket myself to this unyielding literary style all the way.  That’s a tough call.

My formative years were cultured by the venerable King James Version of the Bible.  So here’s an aircraft engineering specialist with zero knowledge of literature attempting to craft a Christmas carol in the archaic English of 1611.  I had parked my formal education in the English language in Secondary 4 so I either needed an oversized dose of grace or an outright miracle.

Till today, I’ve yet to figure out whether I was idealistic or plain idiotic in my pursuit. Or a bit of both.

Anyway… challenge accepted!

After wrestling with this literary cactus for close to 2.5 months, I thought I had birthed a fairly decent product on 14 October 1987.

I called my newborn the Babe of Bethlehem; Babe Divine.  (Scroll to the bottom for the lyrics)

To be frank, right from the onset, I found it cringe-worthy.  I was fixated on squeezing the elements of truth into 30 verses with 9 syllables each.  And that focus inevitably squashes the life and vibrancy in the carol.  I had unwittingly built a structure with all the right materials but sacrificed the décor: paintwork, flooring, upholstery, and furniture.  A creation sorely lacking in aesthetic appeal.

That poem was going nowhere even though I did an update in modern English, written in pencil.

I can still see it now: the carol lying on my bed where I had tossed it.  I had come to bid it farewell.

As I gave it the final glance, then... like the nudging of a gentle whisper, a few verses in the chorus floated up.  They beckoned me to give them a new life as another carol.

I picked up my pen and paper.  More verses tumbled forth.  Some 2 hours later, a new carol was born.

These are the scanned copies of the original manuscript of my composition which I entitled The Gift Rap. 

Yes, they are from 1993.

The thrust of my lyrics was to explain simply the reason why JESUS (GOD the Son) had to come to earth, born as a human, which He did on Christmas Day.  Most carols do not state this explicitly and leave the hearer with just a familiar tune bouncing in the head. 



THE ORIGINAL LYRICS (15 Dec 1993)

Nobody could compose a melody for the lyrics so it hibernated for 31 years as poetry.

I first posted the lyrics online on 2 December 2020 on my maiden blog: https://bit.ly/4gCPtFA

However, the initial pieces that I set to music with the help of AI in 2024 used this version:

Life is too short, too short, my dear friend.
In a twinkling, your dreams can all end.
Will you land in heaven or in hell?
I've got good news, good news, my dear pal.

From an ancient land, long long ago
Came a Child whom prophets foretold.
In a filthy manger, He was born,
To Mary, His blessed virgin mom.

Adam, our forefather, sinned and fell;
Came under judgment, and we, as well.
God said, "The wages of sin is death!" –
Both in the spirit and in the flesh.

God's heart, we pierced, so awfully deep,
Yet He mourned over us – His lost sheep.
Still, our penalty had to be paid,
But this, on His own dear Son He laid.

So, Jesus came bearing all the costs;
Born, not for the palace, but the cross,
To die as our sacrifice for sin,
That sinners can become saints in Him.

God’s precious gift came this Christmas night,
Majestic glory – CHRIST laid aside,
That through His loss, we sinners will gain;
Once cleansed of sin, we're alive as saints!

The true Christmas' kinda gone these days,
All lost in the fun and festive haze.
For Santa, we’ll gladly welcome in.
Jesus... do we still have room for Him?

Are your days dreary and your nights long?
Come, break free, and embrace a new dawn;
Just receive Jesus – you: young and old.
That’s Christmas, every day, in your soul.

Come, receive Jesus – you: young or old,
That’s Christmas, every day, in your soul.

Subsequent ones on 11 December 2024 and later used this with a minor revision (yellow highlight):

Life is too short, too short, my dear friend.
In a twinkling, your dreams can all end.
Will you land in heaven or in hell?
I've got good news, good news, my dear pal.

Adam, our forefather, sinned and fell;
Came under judgment, and we, as well.
God said, "The wages of sin is death!" –
Both in the spirit and in the flesh.

God's heart, we pierced, so awfully deep,
Yet He mourned over us – His lost sheep.
Still, our penalty had to be paid,
But this, on His own dear Son He laid.

So, Jesus came bearing all the costs;
Born, not for the palace, but the cross,
To die as our sacrifice for sin,
That sinners can become saints in Him.

God’s precious gift came this Christmas night,
Majestic glory – CHRIST laid aside,
That through His loss, we sinners will gain;
Once cleansed of sin, we're alive as saints!

This Saviour whom the prophets foretold,
Meek as a lamb yet like a lion: bold,
Calls to us down through the ages still,
"Come, believe in Me – your heart will heal!"

The true Christmas' kinda gone these days,
All lost in the fun and festive haze.
For Santa, we’ll gladly welcome in.
Jesus... do we still have room for Him?

Are your days dreary and your nights long?
Come, break free, and embrace a new dawn;
Just receive Jesus – you: young and old.
That’s Christmas, every day, in your soul.

Come, receive Jesus – you: young or old,
That’s Christmas, every day, in your soul.

A couple of months back, I came across a music-creation program leveraging on AI (Artificial Intelligence).  Curious, I gave it a shot.

The result floored me with awe and delight with its unbelievable rendition of the human vocals to intuitive instrumental accompaniment.  Artificial intelligence had dethroned human intelligence with a few clicks of the keyboard.

I've experimented with a myriad of music genres.  The first was posted on TikTok before I populated them on YouTube.

I posted the first version (pop version) on 5 December 2024:

TikTok:

Youtube: 

See this playlist with 21 songs (more will be added) on Youtube: 
https://bit.ly/3ZBISnZ

ORIGINAL LYRICS (14 Oct 1987)



















REVISED EDITION in pencil (Date Unknown)

Rejoice! Rejoice, little Bethlehem,
Though you are small amongst Judah’s clans,
Yet within your bosom will arise;
Emmanuel – yes, the Promised Christ.

With hope, sons of Adam long await,
Your coming, Son of the Living Head.
Truly Son of God and Son of Man,
The prized ransom of redemption’s plan.

See how Satan’s domain quakes this night,
While angels surround your manger bright.
Yet mortal souls still in twilight haze,
Oblivious to You, O Gift of Grace.

How dark, the sin of everyone’s heart,
So grim, it has conquered every part.
This damnable curse of Adam’s sin,
From its sting you have come to redeem.

O what a gift this Christmas night,
GOD the Son left His Father’s side,
To bear our yoke of shame and sin,
That we can be made saints in Him.

Mighty God, Wonderful, Counsellor,
Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father,
Of your divine government and peace,
We’ll never see an end of increase.

Awake, dear hearts!  Resound in praise
And exultation through endless days,
Echo the first carol ever sung,
By heavenly hosts, angelic tongues.

What blessed memories, Glorious Night,
From age to age will never subside,
For your Spirit still with clarion calls,
Appeal to sinful hearts - one and all.

Truly you are grace and truth combined,
O Babe of Bethlehem; Babe Divine!

Revised 28 December 2024

YouTube Playlist:
https://tinyurl.com/27jtfhlw






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