I’m listening to a classical station right now and they’re playing something that sounds so much like a Danny Elfman / Tim Buron collaboration that I had to check to make sure. Turns out the song is called “O Sanctissima”:
“O Sanctissima” is part Christmas carol and part church motet, set to a melody called “The Sicilian Mariner’s Hymn to the Virgin,” which may be Italian, English, or even Sicilian. No one knows, sometimes, where tunes originate, or when words become attached to a particular melody. This lovely tune is such a mystery “O Sanctissima,” with its original Latin text, was first published in 1794 in the United States. Today, the opening bars are familiarly known for their use in the song “We Shall Overcome.”
For some reason I feel like watching “Edward Scissorhands” now.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_E7mOzmfr4[/youtube]
