Sissel Kyrkjebø (born June 24, 1969 in Bergen, Norway), also known as just … Read Full Bio ↴Sissel Kyrkjebø (born June 24, 1969 in Bergen, Norway), also known as just Sissel, is a Norwegian singer. She is best known for singing the Olympic Hymn (Hymne Olympique) at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, for duets with Plácido Domingo, Warren G and The Chieftains, and for participation on the Titanic film soundtrack.

Also she performed during the intermission of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1986 in Bergen, opening act of the winter Olympic games in 1994 at Lillehammer, voice to the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish version of “the little mermaid, Sung on the Titanic album (‘My heart will go on’ was originally written to her), Royal Variety show in London 1995, Preformed at annual Christmas concert in Vienna, 2000 Nobel peace price concert with Josh Groban singing “the prayer”, toured with The Lord of the Rings Symphony Tour in 2004 and her latest achievement is a number one on the Billboard classical charts with the christmas album “Spirit of the Season - with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir featuring Sissel”

Sissel's musical style runs the gamut from pop recordings and folk songs to classical vocals. Her work on the soundtrack to Titanic has led to comparisons with Irish singer Enya.

Sissel's combined solo record sales (not including soundtracks and other albums to which she contributed) amount to over 9 million albums sold, most of them in Norway -- a country with only 4.5 million people.

She’s released over 14 studio albums, her Christmas album from 1986 is the best selling album in Norway ever with almost one mill copies sold! She’s featured on several soundtracks and sold well over nine million albums world wide and her popularity continues to grow!

She truly is a northern star!

Here are the lyrics to her song "Ready to go home":

On this street below these walls
Where I used to walk now I can barely crawl
All this darkness rise and tall
Lord shine a light for me I’m ready to be caught

I’m ready to go home
I’m ready to receive forgiveness for my sins
I’m ready to begin

Take this river to the sea
Where the delta flows
The tide is washing over me
Guide this soul to heavens door
Show me where tomorrow lays
I’m waiting to be born

I’m ready to lay down
I’m ready now to sleep a promise I must keep
I’m ready to go home

So time I’ll lay down with these memories
Breathe the shallow deep inside of me
If time has run its course with me

I’m ready to go home
I’m ready to receive forgiveness for my sins
I’m ready to begin

When the evening shadows fall
When the time has come
I let defences fall
To surrenders to survive
I will give up everything to those I leave behind

I’m ready to go home
I’m ready to receive forgiveness for my sins
I’m ready to begin
I’m ready to lay down
I’m ready now to sleep a promise I must keep
I’m ready to go home, again

Going home again

When Will My Heart Arise
Sissel Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

(Traditional / Bjerkestrand / Graham)

On this glad Christmas morning
When will my heart arise?
The dew will rise the dawning
The sun rise to the skies

Oh Jesu, while you're sleeping

The whole world sings its joys
But I am filled with weeping
When will my heart arise?

I am the thorns that crowned you
I am the whips that scourge
I am the chains that bound you
Who all my sins did purge

I am the cross you shoulder
A cross that crucified
Against your tongue the boulder
When will my heart arise?

I heed here by your manger
Oh blessed winter child
Great, do not have me stranger
Into the winter wild

I kneel here for forgiveness
And all my sins despise

Forgive me gentle baby
Then will my heart arise

Overall Meaning

The song "When Will My Heart Arise" by Sissel is a rendition of a traditional Christmas song that speaks of the longing for redemption and forgiveness. The opening lines of the song set the festive mood of Christmas morning, but the subsequent lines quickly shift gears to a more somber tone. The chorus of the song repeats the question, "When will my heart arise?", possibly referring to the singer's hope for spiritual rebirth or resolution of the internal conflicts they are experiencing.

The second verse of the song has religious undertones, with the singer acknowledging being responsible for the pain inflicted on Jesus during his crucifixion. The singer seems to be seeking absolution for their sins and is pleading for forgiveness from the infant Jesus. The last lines of the song indicate that the singer is ready to start anew, and the line "Then will my heart arise" is repeated twice, emphasizing the relief that the singer hopes to feel upon being forgiven.

The song uses a mixture of contrasting moods and themes, starting with joyous Christmas celebrations and moving towards themes of atonement and forgiveness. It creates a sense of hope and renewal as the singer seeks redemption. The message of the song is relevant beyond the Christmas season and resonates with people throughout the year.

Line by Line Meaning

On this glad Christmas morning
On this happy day of Jesus' birth

When will my heart arise?
When will I be filled with joy and happiness?

The dew will rise the dawning
The dew will evaporate as the sun rises

The sun rise to the skies
The sun will move up into the sky

Oh Jesu, while you're sleeping
Oh Jesus, while you rest

The whole world sings its joys
The entire world celebrates Christmas with joy

But I am filled with weeping
But I am sad and crying

When will my heart arise?
When will I find happiness?

I am the thorns that crowned you
I am responsible for the thorns on your head

I am the whips that scourge
I am responsible for whipping you

I am the chains that bound you
I am responsible for putting chains on you