Earth Lies Spellbound is one of the central songs from Rumours of Angels, my second collection of Christmas music, a work written as a complete celebration with choir, band, and congregation.

Part of my heart in creating Rumours of Angels was to cut through some of the layers that have gathered around Christmas, the nostalgia, the sentimentality, and the commercialism, and to reach again for the heart of the story. The coming of Christ isn’t just a cosy tradition; it’s a moment that changes everything.

This song is a journey from darkness into light, inspired by the prophetic words of Isaiah and by Mary’s Magnificat. That extraordinary piece of prophetic poetry lies right at the centre of Earth Lies Spellbound.

One of my favourite lines in the song is drawn from that same Magnificat:

“Weakness shatters the powerful, meekness shames the proud.”

It’s such a powerful truth that in the coming of Christ, the world is turned upside down. The mighty are brought low, the humble are lifted, and through apparent weakness, God’s strength is revealed.

Earth Lies Spellbound is a song about oppression giving way to justice, about darkness yielding to light, and about hope breaking into the world. It’s not only about that one morning in Bethlehem, but about the dawning of a whole new age, the beginning of God’s great work of transformation, when the light of Christ enters the world and begins to make all things new.

Musically, the song works beautifully as a choir piece, though many congregations join in the stirring chorus:

“Wake up, wake up, it’s Christmas morning!”

And while that line can certainly rouse a sleepy household on Christmas Day, it speaks of something far deeper; the awakening of creation itself to the light and life of Christ.

Earth Lies Spellbound celebrates that great awakening: the light shining in the darkness, and the promise that the whole cosmos will one day be completely renewed by the One whose birth we celebrate.