"Light One Candle" | |
---|---|
Song by Peter, Paul and Mary | |
from the album No Easy Walk to Freedom | |
Published | December 11, 1982 |
Released | 1986 |
Genre | Folk |
Length | 3:04 |
Label | Gold Castle |
Songwriter(s) | Peter Yarrow |
"Light One Candle" is a song by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. It is a popular Hanukkah song. Peter, Paul, and Mary performed the song in concerts starting in 1982, before recording it for their 1986 studio album No Easy Walk to Freedom .
The lyrics commemorate the war of national liberation fought by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Greek empire from 167 to 141 BCE, a war described in the Books of the Maccabees and commemorated by the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
The first performance of the song was at a 1982 concert in Carnegie Hall. [1]
The song was written in 1982 [2] by group member Peter Yarrow as a pacifist response to the 1982 Lebanon War, an intention was reflected in the lyrics "Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice justice and freedom demand, Light one candle for the wisdom to know when the peacemaker's time is at hand." [3] [1]
In 1983, when the trio performed the song at an outdoor concert in Jerusalem in a country torn over the Lebanon War, they added lyrics to address the political complexities faced by their audience: "Light one candle for the strength that we need to never become our own foe. Light one candle for those who are suffering, pain we learned so long ago. Light one candle for all we believe in, let anger not tear us apart. Light one candle to bind us together with peace as the song in our heart..." [3] When they repeated the chorus "Don't let the light go out, It's lasted for so many years. Don't let the light go out, Let it shine through our love and our tears," the politically mixed audience cheered. [3]
Critic Andrew Silow-Carroll dismisses the lyrics, "Light one candle for the Maccabee children / With thanks their light didn’t die; / Light one candle for the pain they endured / When their right to exist was denied," as a boringly didactic history lesson. [4]
"Advance Australia Fair" is the national anthem of Australia. Written by Scottish-born Australian composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed as a patriotic song in Australia in 1878. It replaced "God Save the Queen" as the official national anthem by the Whitlam government in 1974, following an indicative opinion survey. The subsequent Fraser government reinstated "God Save the Queen" as the national anthem in January 1976 alongside three other "national songs": "Advance Australia Fair", "Waltzing Matilda" and "Song of Australia". Later in 1977 a plebiscite to choose the "national song" preferred "Advance Australia Fair". This was subsequently proclaimed the national anthem in 1984 by the Hawke government. "God Save the Queen" became the royal anthem, and is used at public engagements attended by the King or members of the royal family.
Hanukkah is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE.
"Puff, the Magic Dragon" is a song written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary from a poem by Leonard Lipton. It was made popular by Peter, Paul and Mary in a 1962 recording released in January 1963.
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers. The group's repertoire included songs written by Yarrow and Stookey, early songs by Bob Dylan, and covers of other folk musicians. They were enormously successful in the early- and mid-1960s, with their debut album topping the charts for weeks, and helped popularize the folk music revival. After the death of Travers in 2009, Yarrow and Stookey continued to perform as a duo under their individual names.
The Advent wreath, or Advent crown, is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church. It is traditionally a Lutheran practice, although it has spread to many other Christian denominations.
Mattathias ben Johanan was a Kohen who helped spark the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. Mattathias's story is related in the deuterocanonical book of 1 Maccabees and in the writings of Josephus. Mattathias is accorded a central role in the story of Hanukkah and, as a result, is named in the Al HaNissim prayer Jews add to the Birkat Hamazon and the Amidah during the festival's eight days.
Hanukkah music contains several songs associated with the festival of Hanukkah.
The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story is a children's book written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Lisa Brown. An irate latke at Hanukkah escapes from being cooked in a hot frying pan. He runs into various Christmas symbols who are all ignorant and uneducated about the customs of Hanukkah. The latke attempts to educate these characters about the history and culture surrounding the Jewish holiday, but his attempts are always in vain and he runs away from each encounter in a fit of frustration.
Peter Yarrow is an American singer and songwriter who found fame as a member of the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote one of the group's best known hits, "Puff, the Magic Dragon". He is also a political activist and has supported causes that range from opposition to the Vietnam War to school anti-bullying programs. Yarrow was convicted in 1970 of molesting a 14-year-old girl, for which he was pardoned in 1981 by President Jimmy Carter.
"Let There Be Peace on Earth" is a song written by Jill Jackson-Miller and Sy Miller in 1955. It was initially written for and sung by the International Children's Choir created by Easter Beakly and Arthur Granger of the Granger Dance Academy in Long Beach, California. The composers led a number of rehearsals for the children's choir from 1955 to 1957, and the song is still the theme for this group of children who represent a host of nations and who sang in Washington, D.C., at the JW Marriott next to the White House in 2002.
Lazarus is the self-titled debut studio album by Texas band Lazarus. It was produced by Peter Yarrow and Phil Ramone, released in 1971 on the Bearsville Records label, and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. "Warmth of Your Eyes" was released as the first single in 1972. The album is considered one of the early albums of the Contemporary Christian movement.
A public menorah is a large menorah displayed publicly during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. It is done to celebrate the holiday and publicize the miracle of Hanukkah, and is typically accompanied by a public event during one of the nights of Hanukkah attended by invited dignitaries who are honored with lighting the menorah.
The White House Hanukkah Party is an annual reception held at the White House and hosted by the U.S. President and First Lady to recognize and celebrate the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The tradition was established in 2001, during the administration of George W. Bush. The guest list includes hundreds of American Jewish politicians, organization heads, and school and yeshiva deans.
The Maccabeats are an American Orthodox Jewish all-male a cappella group. Founded in 2007 at Yeshiva University, Manhattan, New York, the 14-member group specializes in covers and parodies of contemporary hits using Jewish-themed lyrics. Their breakout 2010 Hanukkah music video for "Candlelight", a parody of Mike Tompkins' a cappella music video for Taio Cruz's "Dynamite", logged more than two million hits in its first ten days; the video has been viewed more than 16 million times as of 2022. They have recorded three albums and one EP, and frequently release music videos in conjunction with Jewish holidays. They tour worldwide and have performed at the White House and the Knesset.
"El Salvador" is a 1982 protest song about United States involvement in the Salvadoran Civil War, written by Noel Paul Stookey and performed by Peter, Paul and Mary. The song originally appeared on the 1986 album No Easy Walk to Freedom. It was included on the 1999 compilation album Songs of Conscience and Concern and as part of a 25th anniversary concert in New York's Greenwich Village at The Bitter End.
Miracle of the cruse of oil, or the Miracle of Hanukkah, is an Aggadah depicted in the Babylonian Talmud as one of the reasons for Hanukkah. In the story, the miracle occurred after the liberation of the Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabean Revolt, and it describes the finding of a jug of pure oil that was to be enough to light the lamp for one day, but that lasted for eight days.
Singing the Living Tradition is a hymnal published by the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Imane Khalifeh was a Lebanese educator and peace activist.
"Day Is Done" is a song written by Peter Yarrow. It was recorded by Yarrow's group Peter, Paul and Mary and released as a single in 1969. An anti-war protest song of the Vietnam War era, the song reached No. 21 on Billboard Hot 100, and was ranked No. 48 on the Billboard year-end Top Easy Listening Singles chart of 1969.
No Easy Walk to Freedom is a studio album by the American folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, released in 1986 by Gold Castle Records. Its release coincided with the group's 25th anniversary. Produced by John McClure and Peter Yarrow, the album was nominated in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards.