Christmas Eve and Other Stories

In an old city bar
That is never too far
From the places that gather
The dreams that have been

In the safety of night
With its old neon light
It beckons to strangers
And they always come in

And the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
The music was low
And the night
Christmas Eve

And here was the danger
That even with strangers
Inside of this night
It was easier to believe

For it was into this bar
That I happened to wander
To stare into a glass
And my universe ponder

So I walked up to the counter
Shook the snow off my coat
Then I ordered a whiskey
That I used like a moat

But an old man soon joined me
And asked if I knew the time
One word led to another
And somehow I didn't mind

Then he offered a drink
From a bottle 'neath his coat
And he smiled a little smile
As it trickled down my throat

And I felt myself relaxing
Here among the ghosts that failed
Then the old man topped my glass off
And began this little tale

In the moments of our lives
Both the joyous and the tragic
If the truth is to be told
We are all pursuing magic

And the magic that we seek
As we're sure you have discovered
Can be found in certain places
Far more easily than others

In the sand beneath the Sphinx
In the dreams of candlelight
But the surest place of all
Is in the forgiving world of night

And of all the nights throughout the year
That come and gently leave
None hold the dream of magic
Like the evening, Christmas Eve

And so it's on this night
With its promise deep within
As the snow now starts to fall
Our story does begin

An angel came down
One night to the Earth
A mission from God
To find out the worth

Of everything that
His children had done
Since that winter night
The birth of His son

And then a sound filled the night
In the cold winter air
And in the midst of his flight
It was holding him there

And as he looked toward the Earth
For the source of this sound
On that cold winter night
It was pulling him down

To bring something back
This angel was told
That no one could touch
But angels could hold

So on that night
When the sky had cleared
Among all the stars
An angel appeared

And then a sound filled the night
In the cold winter air
And in the midst of his flight
It was holding him there

And as he looked towards the Earth
For the source of this sound
On that cold winter night
It was pulling him down

The sound that he had heard
Was the ringing of the bells
But now inside that night
There were voices there as well

God rest ye merry gentlemen
God rest ye merry gentlemen

There up in the sky a star to follow
There up in the sky a star to follow

All
Await the coming of the Lord
Await the coming of the Lord
Await the coming of the ...

Christmas
Lead and we'll follow
Hope and tomorrow
Magic and dreams

You are all this and more now
Childhood recalls how
You are
Visions and...

Christmas
We are your children
You take us back whenever we call
Each year we are here waiting
Anticipating
As the snow starts to fall

Merry Christmas
Merry, Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Merry, Merry Christmas

Ornaments and evergreens
With packages as yet unseen
All wrapped in paper
Colored bright
Reflecting candles in the night

With carolers and mistletoe
And stockings all hung in a row
Or fireplaces glowing red
With children safely sent to bed

Ring the bells, Ring the bells
Let the churches ring the bells!

Joy to the world, the Lord has come
Let his light shine on everyone

Christmas, lead and we'll follow

When the final note had faded
The angel continued on his search
For he knew the answer to his quest
Was somewhere on this Earth

And from London, Rome and Paris
To Berlin and Tokyo
Wherever the angel flew that night,
The skies would start to snow

As he flew over the UralHe came upon a little townShining in the Arctic darknessSo the angel, he set downThen he walked among the peopleIn a fitting Earth disguiseSo no one recognized himThough they wondered at his eyesAnd there was one other thingThe people found both wonderful and strangeHow no one who saw him there that nightWas ever quite the sameIt was the way they saw their neighborIt was the way they saw this nightIt was the way they saw each strangerBy that star’s distant lightHe joined them in their merrimentWhich was about to startFor angels love a happy soulLike they love a childlike heart

Then he asked a village peasantWhat do Russian hearts desire?He answered peace on Earth, of courseand a little, "Stolichnaya"

As the angel flew those endless miles
He thought about the Christmas Child
Born in a time now far away
And how that Child’s dream had reached this day

And he wondered what
That Child had thought
And when he slept
What dreams he sought

And did the shepherds understand
All the hopes in that Child’s hands?

And how those hopes
Would still survive
As dreams within
Each newborn’s eyes

In the middle of a forest
There's a clearing by a stream
Where a mother holds her newborn
And the Child begins to dream

And He dreams of hopes unspoken
When the tears of man will cease
And His mother holds Him closer
For He is the Prince of Peace

And the moon is looking downward
Casting shadows through the trees
And the stars are shining brighter
As they whisper what they see

How the emperor and the pauper
With the lion and the lamb
Kneel down before the Infant
For his peace they understand

Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on Earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
Glory all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies

With the heavenly host proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King

Let the bells ring out these tidings
Let it echo across the land
That a King is born in Bethlehem
And his Kingdom is at hand

Let the world rejoice together
As it looks upon the stars
Knowing every man's our brother
And that every child is ours

As he flew o'er Sarajevo
There were scars upon the land
There were scars upon the people
It was hard to understand

And the deepest scars of all
Which to humans are unseen
But the angel could see clearly
Were the scars upon the dreams

Like Belfast and Burundi
Rwanda, Palestine
The only decorations here
Had been awarded for their crimes

And in gardens where the children played
Now soldiers only trod
And stranger still, he heard some say
That they were killing for their god

Now the angel heard God speak many times
And he had always paid attention
But this killing of one’s neighbor
Was something the Lord had never mentioned

But as he neared the Earth
Of a recent battleground
From among the ruins
He once more heard the sound

It was a single cello playing
A forgotten Christmas song
And even on that battlefield
The song somehow belonged

And as he flew away
The angel did take note
That where he found this music played
One always could find hope

As he flew over the countryside
He was still listening
When from a little church below
He heard a voice begin to sing

Joy to the world
The Lord has come
Let Earth
Receive her King

Now it was long ago
When it all began
Back in Bethlehem
In the Promised Land

When a single star
Appeared in the sky
And three kings saw
And they each asked why

And they checked the books
Full of prophecy
And the one king said
Why it's plain to me

You see it means
That a King is born
Who will save mankind
On this blessed morn’

So they packed some gold
Myrrh and frankincense
On some old camel
With some fancy tents

Closed down the house
Set the servants free
And three kings rode
Into history

It was long ago
In a foreign land
When the Lord looked down
Said to make a stand
So He sent His son
And said, 'Through Him you'll know me!'

Then the angels came
And when they start to sing
All at once the past

It doesn't mean a thing
And the star comes out
And the wise men say, “Hey show me!”

And they followed it
Over hills and sand
Til' they found the Child
Like it all was planned
And as they knelt before
The newborn King

The angels were singing
In their angel style
How all of our hopes
Had come down to this Child

Then he reached for the song
And he held it in his hand
(It was something that he did
Because you see, angels can)

And he wondered to himself
"Is this the answer that I sought?"
But something was still missing
Or at least, so he still thought

And so he journeyed on
Through the midnight winter air
When all at once our angel
Felt the touch of a man's prayer

And looking once more to the Earth
To determine whence it came
He felt a million souls below
But one was not the same

For there he saw a man alone
Though he was walking in a crowd
And though this man had rarely prayed
Tonight his head was bowed

For even in a crowd, you see
A heart can feel alone
When the night is Christmas Eve
A child is not at home

So from a father to the Lord
A prayer did swiftly race
But the angel saw it first
And he listened to its case

There is an ornament
Lost inside the night
There on a Christmas tree
With a thousand lights

No one can see her
She's standing all alone
Somewhere she glistens
Where no one can see

I don't believe I can say what had happened
All of those words that we put into play
No longer matter, I should have known that then
I just know you're far away

On this Christmas day
On this Christmas day
On this Christmas ....

Somewhere the wind
Carves moments in the snow
And if he sees her
He never lets it show

He just drifts behind her
Erasing every step
Tinsel and garland
Are whispered through trees

I don't believe
I can say what had happened
All of those words
That we put into play

No longer matter,
I should have known that then
I just know you're far away

On this Christmas day
On this Christmas day
On this Christmas ....

Come, Christmas
Stay, Christmas
Watch over her this day
Keep her
Protect her
From harm now in every way

Shelter her
Gently
There in your arms she'll be
Until the day
When you
Bring her back home to me

There is an ornament
Lost inside the night

After he had heard the prayer
The angel gently set it free
And followed it to the father's child
In a far away city

And there the girl in desperation
Was searching through the sky
For a star that she could wish upon
But stars were in short supply

And the only light that she could see
There shining all alone
Was a neon sign on an old bar
And so on this, she wished she was home

Now every light can be a star
Just depends on where you are
And the distance that you're looking
Past the places you have been
And the dreams you’ve left behind
And the dreams you’ve left within

In an old city bar
That is never too far
From the places that gather
The dreams that have been

In the safety of night
With its old neon light
It beckons to strangers
And they always come in

And the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
The music was low
And the night
Christmas Eve

And here was the danger
That even with strangers
Inside of this night
It's easier to believe

Then the door opened wide
And a child came inside
That no one in the bar
Had seen there before

And he asked did we know
That outside in the snow
That someone was lost
Standing outside our door

Then the bartender gazed
Through the smoke and the haze
Through the window and ice
To a corner streetlight

Where standing alone
By a broken pay phone
Was a girl the child said
Could no longer get home

And the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
The bartender turned
And said, “Not that I care
But how would you know this?”
The child said “I've noticed
If one could be home
They'd be all ready there”

Then the bartender came out from behind the bar
And in all of his life he was never that far
And he did something else that he thought no one saw
When he took all the cash from the register draw

Then he followed the child to the girl ‘cross the street
And we watched from the bar as they started to speak
Then he called for a cab and he said, “J.F.K.”
Put the girl in the cab and the cab drove away
And we saw in his hand
That the cash was all gone
From the light that she had
Wished upon

If you want to arrange it
This world you can change it
If we could somehow make this
Christmas thing last

By helping a neighbor
Or even a stranger

And to know who needs help
You need only just ask

Then he looked for the child
But the child wasn't there
Just the wind and the snow
Waltzing dreams through the air

So he walked back inside
Somehow different I think
For the rest of the night
No one paid for a drink

And the cynics will say
That some neighborhood kid
Wandered in on some bums
In the world where they hid

But they weren't there
So they couldn't see
By an old neon star
On that, night, Christmas Eve

When the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
And in case you should wonder
In case you should care

Why we're on our own
Never went home
On that night of all nights
We were already there

Then all at once inside that night
He saw it all so clear
The answer that he sought so long
Had always been so near

It's every gift that someone gives
Expecting nothing back
It's every kindness that we do
Each simple little act

Christmas time
On a cold December morning
All is calm
And the world is still asleep
Christmas lights
That have been caught without warning
Gently glitter on
Stars to wish upon
All the world is at peace

Christmas time and the year will soon be leaving
Cloaked in time til it's just a memory
Christmas stays if we don't forget its meaning
Days go quickly by
Years they multiply
And we go searching for thee

And the dream is still alive
From that first December morning
And it always will survive
As long as we can see
That the dreams we find in life
Are the dreams we tend to seek
And Christmas has its promises to keep

Christmas time
And the moment’s just beginning
From last night
When we'd wished upon a star

If our kindness
This day is just pretending
If we pretend long enough
Never giving up
It just might be who we are

And so it's good that we remember
Just as soon as we've discovered
That the things we do in life
Will always end up touching others

So from a fading neon star
Somewhere shining in the night
We find a father far away
Now reflecting in its light

So, tell me Christmas
Are we wise
To believe in things we never see
Are prayers just wishes in disguise
And are these wishes being granted me
For now I see
The answering
To every prayer I've prayed
She's coming home this Christmas Day

So tell me Christmas
Are we kind
More this day than any other day
Or is it only in our mind
And must it leave when you have gone away

It's different now
It's changed somehow
And now you're here to stay
She's coming home this Christmas Day

And all at once the world
It doesn't seem the same
And in a single night
You know it all has changed
And everything is now as it should be

I have the ornament
I have the perfect tree
I have a string of lights
I have a chance to see
Everything that my heart thought could be

For of all the dreams
You were the first I knew
And every other one
Was a charade of you
You stayed close when I was far away

In the darkest night
You always were the star
That always took us in
No matter who we are
And so she's coming home this
Christmas Day

So the girl had reached her home
And the bar was closing down
As the angel started back
To bring his Lord what he had found

An angel returned
That night through the sky
But time it was short
He had to decide

And so as he flew
Back over the land
A gift for his Lord
Was there in his hand

It was the glow of a light
It was the heart of a song
It was the tear of a child
Where they never belonged
It was the wish of a soul
On an old neon light
And the Lord smiled at him
On that cold winter night

Hear as they ring through the night
Kyrie among nations
Kyrie among nations
Kyrie among nations
Here the bells ring through the night

Kyrie among nations
Kyrie among nations
Kyrie among nations
Hear as they ring through the night

Listen to the bells as they ring
Listen to the message they bring
Listen to the sound
As they sing as one voice in the night

Hoping that we'll all understand
Every dream we have's in our hands
And for every bell
May they ring all through the night

Kyrie among nations
Kyrie among nations
Kyrie among nations
Hear as they ring through the night

Kyrie among nations
Kyrie among nations
Kyrie among nations
Here as they ring through the night

Listen to the bells as they ring
Listen to the message they bring
Listen to the sound as they sing
As one voice in the night

Hoping that we'll all understand
Every dream we have's in our hands
And for every bell
May they ring all through your life

(Instrumental)

And so with his story over
And our bottle nearly through
I asked, “Did this really happen?”
He swore every word was true

Then he said, “I see you're puzzled
For your mind tells you to doubt me
That my story can't be true
But your heart tells you, it might be”

He then asked, did it entertain me
And I admitted it had charm
Then he said, “Perhaps you have learned something
Or at worst I've done no harm”

Then he rose up from his chair
And he said it's time that he should leave
“But may God keep and protect you
This, and every Christmas Eve”

Then he left through the front door
And I ran out to ask him back
But he was already gone
And stranger still he left no tracks

So I walked back to my home
Recalling all I've heard and seen
And for the first time since my childhood
That night I dreamed a Christmas Dream

MERRY CHRISTMAS!