Joy to the World: the Christmas classic that's not quite a carol

Consistently one of our most played and downloaded Christmas pieces here on 8notes, Joy to the World is an essential part of Christmas, whether that be in candlelight services, grand concert arrangements or as a backing soundtrack in shops, bars and malls. It is particularly popular in North America, featuring in around 1400 hymnals in the region. Despite its Yuletide popularity, however, ‘Joy to the World’ is not not really a carol at all.

Not about the birth of Jesus

The lyrics were penned by prolific English hymnist, Issac Watts, the man also responsible for classics such as When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, O God, Our Help in Ages Past and ‘This is the Day the Lord Hath Made.’


Watts was often inspired by the Psalms when writing his lyrics, ‘Joy to the World’ being no exception—it is a paraphrase of Psalm 98, which speaks of God’s triumph and the joy of creation. His lyrics seem to announce the birth of Christ:

Joy to the world the Lord is come
Let earth receive her king

But Watts was not here referring to the birth, but the second coming of Christ—the hymn looks forward in hope, rather than backwards to the Christmas story. Despite this, the imagery of the hymn does seem to fit rather well with Christmas, so it is no great surprise that it has been adopted for the season.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings "Joy to the World."

A Handel on the tune

Part of the reason that the piece works so well as a carol is because of the energetic and celebratory nature of its tune, especially its frequent use of descending scales, which seem to evoke the chiming sounds of bells.


The tune is credited to Lowell Mason in 1836, though he himself attributed parts of it to Handel, claiming it only as an arrangement. Whilst he may have been using the link to the great English composer to lend his own melody prestige, a closer examination does yield similarities to parts of Handel’s Messiah. The opening idea, to the words ’Joy to the World’, is for example identical to the opening of Lift up You Heads:

Later on, the melody of the third line ‘And heaven and nature sing’ resembles opening of the arioso Comfort ye:

Others, however, have argued that such similarities are purely incidental, crediting Mason entirely with the tune.

Criticisms and debate

‘Joy to the World’ has not been without its share of debate and even criticism, despite its popularity. Given that the lyrics were never explicitly about Christmas, some have argued that its use during the season is not appropriate. In common with many other carols, others opine the manner in which it has been used in commercial contexts, losing its Christian meaning. Whilst the question of the tune’s authorship does not detract from our enjoyment of it, it remains an interesting historical footnote, one that has led to much debate amongst musicologists.

In popular culture

None of these debates have detracted from the work’s popularity, a fact reflected in its many appearances in popular culture. Unsurprisingly, it has been used many times in Christmas movies, including ‘National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) ’Deliver by Christmas’ (2002) and ‘Bad Santa 2’ (2016). It has also been covered by a number of pop and folk musicians, including Mariah Carey…

…Sari Simorangkir…

and The Petersens

It was also our frequent companion in shops, malls, bars and restaurants as we go about our daily business in the run-up to Christmas. We may sometimes opine its ubiquitousness, but its hard to deny its success as a seasonal song.