Who wrote the 1964 modern Christmas carol "Calypso Carol"?

Michael Perry wrote the modern Christmas carol “Calypso Carol” in 1964.

Perry wrote both the words and music while studying at Oak Hill Theological College in England. The song begins “See him lying on a bed of straw” and was originally intended for a college carol concert. Its Caribbean-flavoured rhythm led many listeners, and even some broadcasters, to assume it was a traditional West Indian folk song, but it was a modern composition by an English hymnwriter.

The carol became popular almost by accident. Cliff Richard included it in a radio selection as a replacement for a missing recording, helping the song reach a much wider audience. It was later published in the 1969 songbook “Youth Praise 2.”

Perry went on to write more than 300 hymns and became a prominent British hymnodist. The title describes the musical flavour rather than the song’s place of origin, which explains the common misconception about its authorship.