Upside Down Christmas

New Zealand Song By Shirley Erena Murray

Upside Down Christmas (also known as Carol Our Christmas) and The Upside Down Christmas Carol) is a New Zealand song published by Shirley Erena Murray in the early 1990s.

Shirley Erena Murray MNZM (née Cockroft, 31 March 1931 - 25 January 2020) was a New Zealand hymn lyrics writer. Her hymns have been translated into numerous languages and are represented in more than 140 hymn collections.

Born in Invercargill and raised a Methodist, she was educated at Southland Girls' High School, and earned a Master of Arts degree with honours in classics and French from the University of Otago. She later worked as a teacher and researcher.

After marrying Presbyterian minister John Murray in 1954, she eventually moved to Raumati Beach, Wellington, where John was minister for the St Andrew's on the Terrace from 1975 to 1993. Her hymn writing started in the 1970s and often used the congregation of St Andrew's as a testing place for the hymns. Many different composers have put music to her hymn texts.

Among her most known hymns are "Hymn for Anzac Day", "Where Mountains Rise to Open Skies", "Our life has its Seasons", "Star Child" and "Upside Down Christmas".

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Upside Down Christmas By Shirley Erena Murray

Carol our Christmas, an upside down Christmas:
snow is not falling and trees are not bare.
Carol the summer and welcome the Christ Child,
warm in our sunshine and sweetness of air...

Full lyrics may be found here:

https://folksong.org.nz/nzchristmas/upside_down_xmas.html

https://tww.id.au/christmas/upside-down-christmas.html

https://fccucc.org/sermons/upside-down-christmas/

Upside Down Christmas Song Video

Upside Down Christmas Song - Information Video

Upside Down Christmas
Victorian Christmas Card From The 1890's
From New Zealand's Former Post And Telegraph/Telecom Museum Holdings Collection

Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Shirley Murray article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright (cropped) Archives New Zealand from New Zealand Creative Commons Licence 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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