Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, politic… Read Full Bio ↴Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart went on to achieve international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics. Appearing in the 1983 music video for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" with orange cropped hair and wearing a man's lounge suit, the BBC states, "all eyes were on Annie Lennox, the singer whose powerful androgynous look defied the male gaze". Subsequent hits with Eurythmics include "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)", "Love Is a Stranger" and "Here Comes the Rain Again".

Lennox embarked on a solo career in 1992 with her debut album, Diva, which produced several hit singles including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". The same year, she performed "Love Song for a Vampire" for Bram Stoker's Dracula. Her 1995 studio album, Medusa, includes cover versions of songs such as "No More "I Love You's"'" and "A Whiter Shade of Pale". To date, she has released six solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection (2009). With eight Brit Awards, which includes being named Best British Female Artist a record six times, Lennox has been named the "Brits Champion of Champions". She has also collected four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award; the highest accolade from Billboard. In 2004, she received the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Lennox's vocal range is contralto. She has been named "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" by VH1 and one of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone. In 2012, she was rated No. 22 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Music. In June 2013 the Official Charts Company called her "the most successful female British artist in UK music history". As of June 2008, including her work with Eurythmics, Lennox had sold over 80 million records worldwide. As part of a one-hour symphony of British Music, Lennox performed "Little Bird" during the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London. At the 2015 Ivor Novello Awards, Lennox was made a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (The Ivors Academy), the first woman to receive the honour. Lennox and her Eurythmics partner Dave Stewart were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020, and the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, raising money and awareness for HIV/AIDS as it affects women and children in Africa. She founded the Sing campaign in 2007 and founded a women's empowerment charity called The Circle in 2008. In 2011, Lennox was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for her "tireless charity campaigns and championing of humanitarian causes". On 4 June 2012, she performed at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace. In 2017, Lennox was appointed Glasgow Caledonian University's first female chancellor.

Studio albums
Diva (1992)
Medusa (1995)
Bare (2003)
Songs of Mass Destruction (2007)
A Christmas Cornucopia (2010)
Nostalgia (2014)

See Amid the Winter's Snow
Annie Lennox Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

See amid the winter's snow
Born for us on earth below
See the tender Lamb appears
Promised from eternal years

Hail, thou ever blessed morn
Hail, redemption's happy dawn
Sing through all Jerusalem

Christ is born in Bethlehem

Say, ye holy shepherds, say
What your joyful news today
Wherefore have ye left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep?

Hail, thou ever blessed morn
Hail, redemption's happy dawn
Sing through all Jerusalem
Christ is born in Bethlehem

Sacred infant, all divine
What a tender love was thine
Thus to come from highest bliss
Down to such a world as this

Hail, thou ever blessed morn
Hail, redemption's happy dawn
Sing through all Jerusalem
Christ is born in Bethlehem

Hail, thou ever blessed morn
Hail, redemption's happy dawn

Sing through all Jerusalem
Christ is born in Bethlehem

Overall Meaning

Annie Lennox's winter classic is a song loaded with Christmas themes, detailing the joy and awe of Christ's birth. At the outset of the lyrics, she speaks of Christ's unrivaled entry into the world, as he was born amongst the winter's ices and snow. She then describes the tenderness of Christ's character, describing him as a tender lamb that had been promised to humanity so many years before.

Lennox gets right to the point as she starts to express the unequivocal joy that comes with Jesus' arrival. She calls out for the morning, redemption's happy dawn, offering Jerusalem as the center of The Savior's birth land. The beauty of the scene painted here is hard to ignore, more so because the story of Christ's birth is not entirely joyous but can be seen as a result of struggle and much toil. The holy shepherds are just as stunned and joyous as the rest of humanity at the birth of Christ, and leave their sheep behind to witness the divine moment.

These lyrics also touch upon the great love and tenderness of Christ's love. It speaks to the moment where the divine came down to the world of mortals, and all hearts were filled with the wonder of His love. The refrain continues with the joyous hymn about the birth and the dawn of redemption. Christians have their reasons for how they celebrate Christmas, but regardless of the why, "See Amid the Winter's Snow" remains a classic Christmas song worth revisiting every Christmas season.

Line by Line Meaning

See amid the winter's snow
Amidst the harsh winter weather, take a moment to observe

Born for us on earth below
A new child is born on this earth for our sake

See the tender Lamb appears
Notice the meekness and gentleness of the newly born

Promised from eternal years
This birth was predetermined and prophesied

Hail, thou ever blessed morn
Celebrate this blessed day of birth

Hail, redemption's happy dawn
Praise the sunrise of salvation

Sing through all Jerusalem
Spread the good news throughout the holy city

Christ is born in Bethlehem
The Messiah has been born in Bethlehem

Say, ye holy shepherds, say
Tell us, dear shepherds, what you have witnessed

What your joyful news today
Share the wonderful news that you have heard

Wherefore have ye left your sheep
Why have you abandoned your duties to come here?