Hark! (Newborn King)

by Don Chapman

Hark (Newborn King) is my new Hymns Reborn version of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, with a brand-new melody for Charles Wesley’s classic carol. It’s the upbeat call to worship you’ve been looking for to open your December services!

I’ve written lately about how these new melodies usually come to me. I’ll finish a hymn writer bio at Hymndex.com, get so inspired by the story that I sit down at the piano, and a new melody shows up within minutes.

Hark (Newborn King) took over a YEAR.

On June 7, 2025, I sat down and out popped the first half:

Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled

…and that was it!

For months I tried to finish it. I wrote chorus after chorus, and nothing felt right. By late fall it was getting too close to Christmas, so I gave up.

I write at the piano and record ideas on a phone app (just me singing and playing, and trust me, you don’t want to hear it… I’m no singer!). This summer I was scrolling through old fragments looking for something to finish, and there was Hark. I still loved that descending melodic opening, so I prayed, “Lord, I really want to finish this. Give me some ideas!”

Then it hit me. I’d broken a rule every songwriter should follow: never force a song to be something it isn’t. This wasn’t a verse/chorus worship song (ABAB). It was strophic (AAA), and I’d been cramming it into the wrong form!

The moment I let go of that, on July 6, 2026 (a year and a month after I started), the rest of the verse arrived:

Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
Hark the herald angels sing

Of course, every good worship song needs a bridge, and this one came out right on the heels of the finished verse:

Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die

Suddenly, I realized I’m chopping up the lyrics of the original carol! So I closed the bridge with a leftover fragment from the original second verse:

Pleased as man with men to dwell
Jesus our Emmanuel

Word Painting

I’m really pleased with how this one turned out. Next to We Sing Alleluia (my Hymns Reborn version of Christ the Lord Is Risen Today), I think Hark (Newborn King) is one of my best examples of word painting (where the melody acts out what the lyrics are saying).

That opening line descends, and I can just see the angels’ praise falling from the sky to the earth.

In the new section, the melody turns and climbs upward:

Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies

After the powerful bridge, the song settles into an a cappella moment of worship before building back up:

Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth

Your congregation will feel all of this without ever knowing why. But you’ll know!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little behind-the-scenes look at how the song came together.

Bottom Line: Some songs take five minutes and some take a year, and Hark (Newborn King) was worth the wait.

Download Hark! (Newborn King)

Get this arrangement of Hark! (Newborn King) for FREE only at Hymncharts.com and Worshiphymns.com – you won’t find this fresh take anywhere else! As the arranger, I’m offering this new version exclusively on these websites. What’s the difference between Hymncharts and Worshiphymns?

Freebies include piano/vocal sheet music PDF, chord chart PDF and MP3 vocal demo. Transpose into other keys with a Hymncharts.com or Worshiphymns.com subscription.

Username and password for free downloads are contained in the Hymncharts newsletter. Sign up to receive it instantly:

Download FREE lead / piano sheet music, chord chart, MP3 demo and lyrics text file. Permission granted to make as many copies as you need for your worship team.