Christ The Lord Is Born
Sufjan Steven’s “Christ the Lord is Born” is a sparse 50-second piano instrumental. My early impression is it was a minimalist version of a more traditional Christmas hymn. I had heard similar jazzed/popped up Christmas songs with the same title. In my head canon, I had Sufjan start out with a highly syncopated and stylized version similar to this, something that would fit right in on Illinois. A couple years back, I finally paid attention to the song credits. Turns out, there is no official Christmas hymn with that title. Sufjan’s version is a faithful cover of eastern European composer Leos Janacek’s 1909 Christmas composition.
In my opinion, it is the most literal musical interpretation of any of his Christmas covers. There is no embellishment, nothing added or subtracted from the original composition. It is only Sufjan, at his piano, deftly moving his fingers across the three chords required to play this song. It is simple, beautiful, and touching. As the leadoff song to his 2007 I Am Santa’s Helper release, it is the deep breath he takes before launching into the next track, the multi-textured and exuberant “Christmas Woman.”
And that deep breath is what keeps me coming back to Sufjan’s version. I’ve watched multiple YouTube videos of other covers of the song. All of them clock in around 50 seconds, and are straightforward and solid renditions of the song. But there is something different about Sufjan’s version. There are subtle ways he plays with tempo and volume. Pay close attention between 10 and 20 seconds into the song, and you’ll hear it. When I listen to this song, I have a specific picture in my head. I see Sufjan sitting alone at his piano, taking deep breaths with his eyes closed, and tenderly playing the notes as he continues to breathe in, and breathe out. Breathe in, and breathe out.
I have this song as the first song in my Christmas playlists. It is my reminder to take that deep breath every day.
Don Shennum is a geek dad in the SF Bay Area. He considers it a parenting victory that his teenage daughter’s 3rd most-listened-to artist in 2021 is Sufjan (behind Olivia Rodrigo and Phoebe Bridgers). You can see what he’s reading, listening to, or cooking at https://www.donshennum.com.