Christmas Eve and Other Stories (A TSO POEM)

Careless Whisper · December 24, 2008

**NOTE: I do not claim ownership of this long poem. This poem is in the direct ownership of Transiberian Orchestra. I only use this in holiday spirits.

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 IT'S 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 IT'S 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

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

[1.]

God rest ye merry gentlemen

[simultaneously - add a new stanza each second time]

[2.]

There up in the sky a star to follow

[3.]

All

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 when

Ever we call

Each year we are here waiting

Anticipating

As the snow starts to fall

[1.]

To fall...

[2.]

Merry Christmas

Merry, Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry, Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry, Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry, Merry Christmas

[simultaneously - add a new stanza each second time]

[3.]

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

[4.]

Ring the bells, Ring the bells

Let the churches ring the bells!

[5.]

Joy to the world, the Lord has come

Let his light shine on everyone

[All together]

Everyone

Everyone...

Christmas lead and we'll follow...

FROM LONDON, ROME AND PARIS

TO BERLIN AND TOKYO

WINTER NEVER REALLY STARTS

UNTIL IT'S GIVEN ITS FIRST SNOW

AS HE FLEW OVER THE URALS

HE CAME UPON A LITTLE TOWN

SHINING IN THE ARCTIC DARKNESS

SO THE ANGEL HE SET DOWN

THEN HE WALKED AMONG THE PEOPLE

IN A FITTING EARTH DISGUISE

SO NO ONE RECOGNIZED HIM

THOUGH THEY WONDERED AT HIS EYES

THEN HE ASKED A VILLAGE PEASANT

WHAT DO RUSSIAN HEARTS DESIRE

HE ANSWERED PEACE ON EARTH, OF COURSE

AND A LITTLE, "STOLICHNAYA"

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

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

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

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

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 THE 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 ONES 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 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

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

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

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!'

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!

Oh, 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 angel's 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 ANGELS CAN)

AND HE WONDERED TO HIMSELF

"IT 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...

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...

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

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

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 till 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 moments 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

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

You always took us in

No matter who we are

And so she's coming home this

Christmas Day

[1.]

Merry Christmas

Merry, merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry, merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Merry, merry Christmas

Night

(add the second stanza in the third time)

[2.]

She's coming home

This Christmas Day

[All together]

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

Here the bells ring through the night

Kyrie among nations

Hear as they ring through the night

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

Hear as they ring through the night

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

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 HEAVE 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

BYT 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!

Azmodius · December 24, 2008

OMG thats long!

Sbamber · December 24, 2008

That took me all this time, just to read it!

Dude, I lurv you! (In a non-gay way, too)

Nice poem!

xD

Sign In

Christmas Eve and Other Stories (A TSO POEM)

Recommended Posts

Careless Whisper

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Azmodius

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Sbamber

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Archived

Other Makers

Activity