PENTATONIX - MARY, DID YOU KNOW?

MARY, DID YOU KNOW?

PENTATONIX

SONGWRITERS: GREENE LEE RUFUS & LOWRY MARK ALAN

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: THAT’S CHRISTMAS TO ME

LABEL: RCA RECORDS

GENRE: POP

YEAR: 2014

 

         Pentatonix(abbreviated PTX) is an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, and Matt Sallee. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements with vocal harmonies, basslines, riffing, percussion, and beatboxing, they produce cover versions of modern pop works or Christmas songs, sometimes in the form of medleys, along with original material. Pentatonix formed in 2011 and subsequently won the third season of NBC's The Sing-Off, receiving $200,000 and a recording contract with Sony Music. When Sony's Epic Records dropped the group after The Sing-Off, the group formed its YouTube channel, distributing its music through Madison Gate Records, a label owned by Sony Pictures. Their YouTube channel currently has over 19 million subscribers and 5 billion views. The group's video tribute to Daft Punk had received more than 355 million views as of November 20, 2021.

         Their debut EP PTX, Volume 1 was released in 2012, followed by their holiday release PTXmas the same year, with Pentatonix's third release, PTX, Vol. II, debuting at number 1 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart and number 10 on the Billboard 200 in 2013. In May 2014, Pentatonix signed with RCA Records, a "flagship" label of Sony Music Entertainment, while in the same year, the group released their fourth EP, PTX, Vol. III, and two full-length studio albums; PTX, Vols. 1 & 2, a compilation album released in Japan, Korea and Australia, and their second holiday release, That's Christmas to Me, with the album certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), platinum on December 24, 2014, and double platinum on February 11, 2016, becoming the highest-charting holiday album by a group since 1962, and the fourth-best-selling album in the United States in 2014 The following year, Pentatonix released their eponymous album, their first consisting mostly of original material, which debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart for the first time in their career, followed by a third Christmas album, A Pentatonix Christmas, in 2016, and a new EP, PTX, Vol. IV – Classics, the year after.

       In September 2017, Avi Kaplan, the group’s original bass, left the group amicably and was replaced by Matt Sallee, who was featured on their next album PTX Presents: Top Pop, Vol. I. Sallee graduated from Berklee College of Music, where he had been a member of the a cappella group Pitch Slapped.

        Pentatonix have won three Grammy Awards: they were the first a cappella act to win Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, doing so in 2015 and 2016, and Best Country Duo/Group Performance in 2017.

          That's Christmas to Me is the third studio album by a cappella group Pentatonix. It is their sixth release overall and their second holiday release following their 2012 EP PTXmas. It only features previously unreleased material (except "Let It Go", a bonus track of the Japanese Edition of Vols. 1 & 2). It was released on October 21, 2014 through RCA Records, peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

          The album is named after the eponymous song by Pentatonix, the only original song featured on the album. By year's end, December 31, 2014, according to Billboard, it reached a final 2014 total of 1.14 million copies sold, becoming the 4th best selling album of 2014 by any artist of any genre. The album is also the highest charting holiday album by a group since 1962. The album has sold 2,200,000 copies in the United States as of December 2016.

 

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy

Has come to make you new?

This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you

 

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Will calm the storm with his hand?

 

Did you know that your baby boy

Has walked where angels trod?

When you kiss your little baby

You kiss the face of God

 

Mary, did you know?

Mary, did you know?

Mary, did you know? Did you know?

Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know?

Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know?

Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know?

 

The blind will see, the deaf will hear

The dead will live again

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak

The praises of the Lamb

 

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Is Lord of all creation?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy

Is heaven's perfect Lamb?

That sleeping child you're holding is the great, I Am

 

Mary, did you know? (Mary, did you know?)

Mary, did you know? (Mary, did you know?)

Mary, did you know? Oh!