I like thinking of all the Christmas plays that have used the song. “We Three Kings” to show the presence of the three wise men sharing gifts with the Messiah.
John Henry Hopkins Jr. was an ordained priest of the Episcopal Church. Hopkins preferred writing to preaching and worked for a New York newspaper as a writer and as a scribe for a church journal.
In 1857 while trying to decide what Epiphany gifts to buy for his nieces and nephews, Hopkins decided to write them a song. He chose the wise men as the subject for his gift. As Hopkins wrote the lyrics he tried to imagine what the wise men must have felt as they searched for the Christ Child.
After giving the song to his nieces and nephews, Hopkins published the song in his own song book, Carols, Hymns, and Songs. During the next century when churches began to add Christmas songs to their hymnals the song was among the first carols chosen ensuring “We Three Kings Of Orient Are” would become one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time.
My favorite version of Pap and and Paul doing the song is the produced track on their “Songs of Christmas” cd.
The words Hopkins wrote so many years ago accompanied by Paul and Pap’s harmony and Paul’s outstanding picking on the twelve string guitar give me chills every last time I hear it.
The music is simultaneously haunting and inspiring.
I hope you enjoyed the video. If you’d like to pick up a copy of the cd go here.
Tipper
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Pap has such a soothing voice. My late mother in-law played a 12 string too. Paul sure can pick, loved hearing this song.
Tipper, I got my winning cd Shepherd of my Soul and every song on it has a wonderful message about Jesus. The harmony and music is beautiful too. Thank you so much for doing the Thankful November give aways. You are very kind and generous. I hope you and all of your precious family will have a wonderful, Merry Christmas. It’s been raining here so I haven’t collected anything to make the kissing ball yet. I still have lots of other things to do too so with only 10 days until Christmas I may have to put off making that kissing ball. I hope you will enjoy this lazy, rainy day. I’ve been “backing” Christmas cards and still have some more to do. Stay sweet. I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.
Happy Sunday y’all! Interesting facts about the author of the song being a minister and writing the song as a gift to his nieces and nephews. I’ve never heard that before. I enjoy learning the background stories of songs that are so dear to our hearts. Enjoyed the cherished video of Pap and Paul singing it together in beautiful harmony. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Funny how this stays with you. I haven’t sung nor heard this song in almost 50 years and yet I was able to sing along verse for verse. When some things go in at an early age, they stay. I suppose that’s how Sunday School got started.
Absolutely beautiful!!
I had always heard that the gifts were symbolic: gold given for Jesus’s kingship and deity, frankincense for Jesus’s divinity and used in worship and myrrh foretelling Jesus’s death as it was used in embalming. Also these gifts were very valuable and could be used to pay for Mary and Joseph’s journey
Beautiful!! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!
thank you for we Three Kings, I just put my manager seen together, it’s under a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, Merry Christmas to all my friends at blind pig and the acorn, Merry Christmas and God bless you
love that song—Paul did some fantastic picking didnt he. Thought of you yesterday as I made batch after batch of caramel puff corn and a quadruple batch of chex mix with a slight bit of heat to it. My sister, brother in law, and a niece put in the request for those two things. Tried to have the energy to also make a pumpkin roll and some pecan and also peanut brittle for them but that will have to wait for another day in the coming weak. Friday I mixed up a second batch of summer sausage–today or tomorrow it will have to be rolled into logs and baked low and slow–ground deer meat makes excellent summer sausage–my first batch a week or so ago I put chopped up candied jalepenos in it and even though I only put a small amount in it was enough to not only give it a great flavor but if I ate several pieces of it my gums would burn lol…the batch in the frig is plain–tell Corie that since she has lots of ground venison she might want to make Austin and Mat some to snack on if they like to eat summer sausage they will love it with venison….I would like to have that Christmas cd but I have no way of playing it (I had a laptop that would play cds and dvds but when the tornado hit my apartment last year along with the flood in my apartment caused by the tornado my laptop was destroyed and when I bought the replacement I discovered you can no longer get one with cd/dvd players—at least I could not find one and that is what I was told by several salesmen in different companies….I have read the play list and absolutely adore every song on it, I would be like you and have it playing all the time (and probably year round) much love to you all with continued prayers of comfort and blessings
Gaylia, you should be able to get a small cd player that will plug into the side of your laptop if it has the right kind of port! Most any salesman should have told you that.
You can get an external USB CD drive for a little over $20 on Amazon. I would provide a link to one but I don’t know how. It’s easy to find though!
Thanks for sharing this beautiful carol. So wonderful to hear Pap and Paul.
Merry Christmas to one and all.
Absolutely beautiful!
Beautiful!!!
I love Pap and Paul’s cd. Them singing this song is my favorite version. So blessed to have it in my collection! Many blessings to all!
What a beautiful arrangement of this song – perhaps one of the best I have ever heard…
I have wondered about phrases like “myrrh” and the “bitter perfume” as well as incense and deity. Did Hopkins have other knowledge about the relationships he made? Or did he find them in the bible? And I have wondered (and probably posted before) about what became of those valuable gifts? Did they sustain Joseph, Mary and Jesus in Egypt? Apparently we were not meant to know, just as we do not know how the wise men knew what the star meant when it appeared. There have been a lot of unusual, natural heavenly occurrences in the last three years or so.
Always enjoy listening to Pap and Paul ‘s harmonies. Especially on hauntingly beautiful song such as this. A wonderful way to start my Sunday.
Good story!
Beautiful.
Beautiful!!!
Merry Christmas!!
May everyone have blessed Sunday.
This is so beautiful to listen to…the singing and Paul’s wonderful guitar playing. You are right…the music sounds haunting and beautiful at the same time.
I like all of the old time Christmas Carols. You can count on this song being sung in any Christmas play I have ever been too. Sadie, I am glad you are beginning to get your home repaired and things are starting to look up for you. You mentioned hickory trees, hickory along with oak are the best wood for firewood in my area. Many red and white oak trees were destroyed in my area and are being wasted. It bothers me to see all of that good not being put to good use.
What beautiful voices! How lucky to have recordings and videos of Pap to watch anytime.
I miss my father’s voice. Have a Blessed Christmas.
That is beautifully sung. I haven’t heard it sung with such beautiful voices as those two! And even more beautiful with the guitar. so beautiful!
You will have to watch the movie (if you have not) it’s really good… It’s called. “We Three Kings“ set in the 1800’s and the overview says this: Amy, Catherine, and Charles Fay can’t wait for their Uncle Henry to arrive for Christmas. This is the first year since Mama passed away and the children are working together to fill the void and put together a Christmas play at their church. There are challenges along the way, from a runaway lamb to the stern lady who plays the church organ, but with the help of Uncle Henry’s new song, ‘We Three Kings,’ not only is the Christmas pageant a success, but the children learn truths about Jesus and the gifts that were given to Him by the Magi
Lorie-thank you for the movie suggestion!!
Both are gifted in their music!