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I’ve been getting into song writing this year and while I used to write songs as a teenager, most were satire and humor and I wasn’t serious enough to write many serious songs. I did attempt a few but I don’t really sing or play any instruments so I didn’t have any way of converting them to music.
Well, with the advent of AI tools like Suno.com (shameless plug and yes, that’s an affiliate link but we both get 500 credits if you use it) anyone can make music. And honestly, whether you’re doing it for fun or seriously trying to make something good, it’s pretty mindblowing.
Anyway, back to this Christmas song.
With the holiday approaching a few family members suggested I should try my hand at a Christmas song. I liked the idea and even had a concept in mind but I didn’t try to force it, I just let it stew for a couple weeks.
Then, it all kind of came to me. I knew I wanted to do something about the tree in Nephi’s vision of the tree of life and Mary.
If you think about it, there’s a mini Christmas story happening right there in 1 Nephi 11. You have a beautiful, bright tree, the heavens opening and an angel coming down, a virgin bearing a child in her arms who is the Son of the Father, the Lamb of God, and joy to the soul.
I had been thinking about the legend of how Martin Luther created the first Christmas tree. But all the research I’ve been doing about the divine feminine, the blessed tree, etc. caused an idea to pop into my head, “Mary was the first tree of Christmas” and that’s the core idea of the song.
I write the chorus first, you want to have some kind of good hook. This song features a little bit of a lengthy introduction to the idea, tells a story with some hints that it’s Mary which should be obvious by the time you get to the chorus.
After the first chorus I wanted to go back to the garden of Eden with the two trees there and the motif of life and death they presented. Then, parallel that with Mary as the tree of life and the cross being a tree of death. Wove in some womb/tomb imagery and some parallels to the breath of life in the garden and Mary witnessing the first and last breath of Christ but then living to see salvation’s day.
That’s the idea, that Mary was the first “tree” of Christmas. I think the symbolism there is really cool and I think Mary is a singular figure, someone we probably underestimate and who likely had one of the most important roles that any human being had to play on earth.
I’m not the best artist, but I love to draw, and I’m not the best writer or lyricist but I love to do it anyway. It’s just another form of expression and sharing ideas.
So enjoy and have a blessed Christmas!
Lyrics
The First Tree of Christmas
Wasn’t fir or pine
It didn’t bear ornaments
Or strings of colored light
The first tree of Christmas
Was planted long ago
In the ancient land of Israel
Grew mankind’s only hope
The first tree of Christmas
Sprang from Jesse’s line
The first tree of Christmas
Fulfilled a plan divine
To the first tree of Christmas
Angelic words were said
Hail, thou highly favored
Of heaven thou art blessed
The first tree of Christmas
Beauty burning bright
Bearing condescension
A child of love and light
Oh, fallen world, behold Him
The Lamb of God foretold
Fruit of the tree
Most joyous to the soul
In the beginning was a garden
Where man first drew his breath
There stood a tree of life
And one that brought forth death
Through many generations
Prophets saw the tree
A virgin would conceive
And bear the Prince of Peace
The first tree of Christmas
Beauty burning bright
Bearing condescension
A child of love and light
Oh, fallen world, behold Him
The Lamb of God foretold
Fruit of the tree
Most joyous to the soul
From the cradle unto Calvary
A tree of life, of death
The first tree of Christmas
A first and final breath
Planted in a womb of earth
Three days and nights He lay
The first tree of Christmas
Saw salvation’s day
The first tree of Christmas
Beauty burning bright
Bearing condescension
A child of love and light
Oh, fallen world, behold Him
The Lamb of God foretold
Fruit of the tree
Most joyous to the soul
Oh, fallen world, behold Him
The Lamb of God foretold
The fruit of the tree
Most joyous to the soul
