Take 6 is an influential American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in … Read Full Bio ↴Take 6 is an influential American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1985 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama.

The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two NAACP Image Award nominations. They won Grammy Awards in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1998, and 2003 and have collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Don Henley, Ray Charles, Queen Latifah, Joe Sample, Quincy Jones, Marcus Miller and Gordon Goodwin.

In 1980, Claude McKnight formed an a cappella quartet, The Gentlemen's Estate Quartet, at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, a Seventh-Day Adventist College, where he was a freshman. He auditioned fellow students for the hobby group. The Gentlemen were rehearsing in a campus bathroom (later said to be in Peterson Hall), getting ready for a performance, when Mark Kibble walked by and heard them singing. He joined the harmonizing, adding a fifth part, and ended up singing with them onstage that very night.[1] Mark later invited Mervyn Warren to join the group. The group performed under the moniker "Alliance".
The group performed in local churches and on campus over the next years, with members changing due to college's inevitable comings and goings. In 1985, the lower half of the group (bass, baritone, and second tenor) left upon graduating. At that time, Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent, and David Thomas joined.

The group was signed to Warner Brothers in 1987, and quickly changed its name to "Take 6" after a name search revealed that "Alliance" was already being used. Their eponymous debut album, released in 1988, won them two Grammy Awards and resulted in top ten appearances on both the Billboard Contemporary Jazz and Contemporary Christian Charts. Take 6's swinging, harmony-rich gospel sound attracted a flurry of attention, and the group went on to record or appear with a number of luminaries, including Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder.

In 1991, after the release of their second album, So Much 2 Say, Mervyn Warren left the group to pursue a career as a producer. Joey Kibble, Mark's younger brother, was invited to round out the vocal lineup. The group added instrumentation to their purely a cappella sound beginning with the record He Is Christmas; Join The Band and Brothers continued their streak of success, and Take 6 amassed a total of seven Grammys and eight Dove awards, as well as topping the Downbeat Magazine's Reader's and Critic's poll for seven years' consecutively.

Take 6's 1998 release, So Cool, brought the group back to its a cappella origins.
In 2006 the group launched Take 6 Records and the 2006 release Feels Good was released on that label.
The group currently lists Nashville, Tennessee as its home.[2] All members grew up Seventh-Day Adventist.[

Joy to the World
Take 6 Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and heaven and nature sing

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns
Let men have their songs employ

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat the sounding

Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let earth receive, receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and heaven
Heaven and heaven and nature sing
Sing, oh, everyone sing

And heaven and heaven

Heaven and heaven and nature sing
And nature sing

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Take 6's song Joy to the World speak of the arrival of the Lord, and the joy it spreads throughout the earth. The opening line "Joy to the world, the Lord is come" sets the tone for the whole song, which is to spread happiness and contentment among the believers. The next line "Let earth receive her King" associates the arrival of the Lord with the monarch of the earth whom everyone bow down to; thus, it speaks of humbling oneself to receive blessings from the Lord.

The following lines "Let every heart prepare Him room" and "And heaven and nature sing" both suggest the idea of the grand arrival of the Lord, and His divine presence evoking emotions of awe and joy. It conveys the message that every human soul should prepare themselves for surrendering to the Lord and receiving the divine love that He offers. The second stanza of the song highlights the reign and salvation of the Savior and invites everyone to join in the celebration. The chorus is repeated twice, both times with emphasis on the phrase "And heaven and nature sing," which signifies the grandness of the Lord's arrival.

Line by Line Meaning

Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let us celebrate the arrival of the Lord with joy

Let earth receive her King
May the earth embrace its King with open arms

Let every heart prepare Him room
Let us open our hearts and make space for Him

And heaven and nature sing
Let both heaven and nature sing in honor of the Lord

Repeat, repeat the sounding
Let the joyful noise of this occasion be repeated and echoed

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns
Let us be happy and thankful that our Savior reigns over the earth

Let men their songs employ
Let all men sing praises to the Lord

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Let all aspects of nature join in the celebration of the Lord's arrival

Repeat the sounding joy
Let us continue to sing out the joyful sound of this occasion

Let earth receive, receive her King
Let the earth welcome and receive its King

Heaven and nature sing
May both heaven and nature join in song