Here's a brain pincer for you...

Subject: Here's a brain pincer for you...
From:
Date: 28 Oct 98 - 02:43 PM

Hello all,

Good to be back after a long absence, but do I have a brain squeezer for you. This summer at auction, my husband bought a box full of old video tapes. On one of them was an MTV xmas special from 1985,86,or 87. We're not sure what year, but on that special was a truly great song that Sting sang. I can't find it in the database, so I thought I'd try the human version. It's a song of the birth of christ, and each verse ends with the words "highly favored lay, Gloria" with the gloria streached out for probably 3 measures. It's lovely, and we'd like to find it because the audio on the recording is a little hedgy and I'm not sure I could get the whole song. Any help is appreciated.

Catfeet

Subject: RE: Here's a brain pincer for you...
From: Barry Finn
Date: 28 Oct 98 - 03:42 PM

Catfeet, haven't got a clue but it's nice to see you back after such a long spell. Are you still in the Northern Kingdom? If you make it down to Boston there's a great singers session growing up on Tues. evenings. Barry Barry

Subject: RE: Here's a brain pincer for you...
From: Pete M
Date: 28 Oct 98 - 07:15 PM

Catfeet, sounds like a refugee from the "sex songs" thread, but I suspect that the line is actually "... most highly favoured lady etc" It's a well known carol, so well known that the name completely escapes me at the moment! I'll look it up when I get home if no-one else dives in first.

Pete M

Subject: RE: Here's a brain pincer for you...
From: Pete M
Date: 28 Oct 98 - 08:25 PM

Hi Catfeet,
Assuming my assumption above was correct, the carol I'm thinking of is variously known as "Gabriel's message" and "The Angel Gabriel". It's a Basque carol collected and translated by Sabine Baring-Gould. Maddy Prior does a great version (I think that's tautological actually, she's never done anything that wasn't) with the Carnival Band on "A tapestry of Carols". I couldn't find the lyrics in the DT but they are given here if you are interested.

Pete M

Subject: RE: Here's a brain pincer for you...
From: Craig
Date: 28 Oct 98 - 10:38 PM

Catfeet,

The name of the carol is Gabriel's Message. It's an old Basque carol.

Craig

Subject: RE: Here's a brain pincer for you...
From: Catfeet
Date: 28 Oct 98 - 11:17 PM

Yep, that's it! Thank you everyone, gratifying to know that there's such a wealth of info out there. Thanks for the link, I've saved off the entire page. It's got such a haunting melody, we've been singing it and humming it until we got on eachother's nerves, and I thought I might as well get the words so we could actually sing it.

Catfeet