In this room where shadows live

And ghosts that failed learn time forgives

Welcome, friends, please stay awhile
Our story starts with one small child

Who spends this night in attics dark
Where dreams are stored like sleeping hearts
And so it's here that they must wait
Till someone wishes them awake

For somewhere on this night of nights
She's looking to believe
Here among the ghosts on Christmas Eve

And there near an old looking glass
There was a trunk from Christmas past
That she had somehow missed before
But now decides she will explore

'Twas filled with toys and one old wreath
And several letters underneath
So as the evening hours leave
The child sat down and started to read

For somewhere on this night of nights
She's looking to believe
Here among the ghosts on Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve
				

[Instrumental]

That first letter, that she had read
In that attic far from bed
Was from a father trying to say
How his first child saw Christmas Day
				

There in this night
There is a life
Someone who waits for me
Only a child
Dreams and a smile
Waiting to play

And now she's found
Snow on the ground
Magic has been set free
She's waited here
All of this year
Just for this day

And then the night comes alive
With lights to dazzle

And everything's extraordinary
Nothing is left ordinary

Christmas has come
With its long memory
And in my mind
It always will be
The world that she sees

Caught in this night
Pieces of light
Glitter and play for you
And made of glass
Dreams from the past
Wait for this day

And if you try
Look in the sky
One star is shining through
And on this eve
You can't believe
It's far away

And then the night comes alive
With lights to dazzle
And everything's extraordinary
Nothing is left ordinary

Christmas has come
With its long memory
And in my mind
It always will be
The world that she sees

There on this night
Pieces of light
There on this night
Pieces of light

Christmas has come
Christmas has come

The world that she sees
The world that she sees

On this night
On this night

The world that she sees

Then after he had thought awhile
The father recalled another child
Born in a time now far away
And how this child's dreams
Had reached this day

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

* * *

Then the child heard a clock tolling
From a distant city tower
And she gazed up at the starlight
On this Christmas midnight hour

And she wondered if these stars
Were all but bits of dreams
From somewhere in the distant past
That somehow, could still be seen

And she wondered if her candle
Upon this magic night

Could be seen by someone faraway
As their own starlight
				

[Instrumental]

Then she saw a gramophone
From a time gone long before
Any in this room were born
But tonight it would be heard once more

For she had found a small handle
There upon one end
And when she turned it twice around
It began to play again
				

[Instrumental]

Mixed among the letters
Was a young boy's school report
About the three wise men
And how they were nearly caught

Now many books have been written
About what had happened on that night
But this report was based upon
Some additional insight

It seems his uncle had come by
Each Christmas without fail
And claimed to know what really happened
In that classic Christmas tale
				

O Holy night
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear savior's birth

Now you all heard the story about Bethlehem
How the child was born and the three wise men
Heard the preacher tell it like the preacher does
But let me tell you, children,
That's not how it was

Now you might ask me what I'm talking about
But I know the part that they all left out

Now do you hear what I said
That Herod wanted those wise men dead
But on that blessed evening
My great great great great great great granddad
He saved those kings

Now granddad made his living
Playing jazz you see
But jazz wasn't big around one A.D.
So he got himself a job in the palace band
Where he heard about three kings
In the desert sand

Let me tell you children that at any time
Three kings in the desert that's a real rare find

But Herod heard of it too
And when he heard his curiosity grew
So he asked those kings to drop by
And my great great great great great great
Granddad
He wondered why

So the Magi told old Herod
That they had come here
To find a newborn king of kings
Who'd heal our sins
Then herod told his guards
To follow those Magi
And that the only king around here
Was gonna' be him

Then he told his soldiers as I recall
When they found that child, to kill them all
But granddad overheard what Herod said
And he had to act fast or else they'd all be dead

So granddad got to those kings
Filled them in on the plan, told them everything
When they heard what he had in store
They grabbed the gold
The frankincense
The myrrh, the jewels
The desert tents
And when they found
His plan was sound
They followed granddad out the back door

And what a night
It must have been
But when God is on your side
You kinda' know that in the end
You're gonna win

They traveled fast
They traveled far
And in the end they found
That they were standing with the Child
Beneath the star

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

And so you see we've reached the end
Of our story
When granddad and the kings
Reached that stable on the hill
And while I said that
Three kings in the desert is a rare sight
Angels singing in the desert that's far rarer still

Now I ain't sayin' that the bible was wrong
But ya' see the whole tale
Would have taken too long
'Cause way back then in the promised land
Every copy they sold,
It had to be written by hand

And granddad lived a long life
Stayed friends with those kings
And found a good wife
And eventually I came along
But that my children
That my children
That's another song

The next letter included a receipt
For one toy stuffed bear
Donating it to a small thrift shop
But somehow it was left there

For attics have their secrets
And toys will have theirs, too
Like who once held or loved them
When they last were new

Whether they were made of metal
Or they were cotton stuffed
Or how they had been left here
When they were not enough

And so it's here that they must wait
Between reality and dream
Hoping all will be remembered
And that all can be redeemed

Then in the sound of the wind
Whistling through a door
She thought she heard the sound of children
That had held this toy before

And she then thought to herself
As she now held it in her hand
That no one could save all the world
But we should save who we can

So she placed it near her candle
For she had decided in her mind
That when she left this attic
He would not be left behind
				

Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas

The hope that he brings
The hope that he brings
The hope that he brings
The hope that he brings

This night
We pray
Our lives
Will show

This dream
He had
Each child
Still knows

We are waiting
We have not forgotten

On this night
On this night
On this very Christmas night
				

The next letter that she found
Was by a ribbon gently bound
To the key for a small music box
And she placed that key into its lock

And the melody that it had learned
Once again began to turn
And as that tune it filled the air
She opened the letter that was there

And that letter contained a news clipping
About a man with many things
In his world, a great success
And where he lived, the best address
His happy life the world did know
Because the papers told us so

But the Angel he could clearly see
That all was not as it appeared to be
For on this night as snow clouds gathered
That man wondered if that all really mattered
And on this night inside his home
He realized that he was alone
And he asked himself what his life had meant
How all these years they had been spent
And how he could feel his life such a waste
When he had every dream that he had chased

But then the Angel whispered in his ear
And in his mind the man heard clear
Tell me one wish that you have granted
Tell me one life you've enchanted
Tell me one of these things that you have done
But the man could not recall a single one

He was close to no one, this thing he did know
Well there was one person, but that was long ago
And though that someone
Had been far more than a friend
It was far too late to ever go back to her again
				

He believed in the things

That he always thought he knew

And had done all the things

That he always wanted to do

Collecting

Each thing reflecting his worth

But now he pondered

How he had wandered this earth

For we all seem to give our lives away
Searching for things that we think we must own
Until on this evening
When the year is leaving
We all try to find our way home

He had time or at least then he
Always thought he did
And mistakes, well, he thought that time

Always would forgive
Each transgression
For his intention
Forgetting
Years he squandered
On things he now was regretting

For we all seem to give our lives away
Searching for things that we think we must own
Until on this evening
When the year is leaving
We all try to find our way home

For we all seem to give our lives away
Searching for things that we think we must own
But on this evening
When the year is leaving
I think I would be alright
If on this Christmas night
I could just find my way home

There is something about this night
That the Lord has arranged
That reaches deep into our souls
And causes us to want to change

And angels know things about us
That no else can know
And this Angel's heart it formed a plan
And then caused the night to snow
				

[Instrumental]

She had carefully read that article

And when she was all done

She started on the letter

And it was the saddest one
				

Remember last Christmas Eve
When we sat next to our first tree
Ornaments reflected light
Of a candle in the night

And I gave you a music box
Back then that seemed like so much
We watched it go round and round
As the melodies unwound

But all these things are now long gone
And not to be wished upon again

But the musical box continues to turn
The candle in the window continues to burn
But I know they're just memories
Like Christmas past and you and me

Remember that old fireplace
That held the room in warm embrace
And as we watched for Christmas ghosts
The fire held the shadows close

But now upon that Christmas scene
The candle wax of melted dreams
And ornaments of shattered glass
Now belonging to the past

But all these things are now long gone
And not to be wished upon again

But the musical box continues to turn
The candle in the window continues to burn
But I know they're just memories
Like Christmas past and you and me

 

Behind that single letter
Was a weathered photograph
Of that man in the article
But from somewhere in his past

And standing there beside him
In a setting summer sun
Was the lady who used to own this house
Only here she was quite young

She had moved to a smaller place
That was only right next door
And then the child noticed something else
That she had missed before

This letter had no stamp it seemed
And was surely never sent
And as she sat upon the floor
That child she wondered what it meant

Then the Angel whispered to her
A most important fact
That for compassion to be real
It requires one to act

Then once again that child came up
With a child's idea
But she knew she must act fast
For time, it was growing dear

So taking that article back downstairs
She found the kitchen phone
And called up information
To find the number of his home

And when he picked up the receiver
She quickly told him quite enough
To know who was waiting on this night for him
And then the child, she just hung up

 

Then to make sure that no one was awake
She took a quick look down the hall
Then she found her neighbor's number
And repeated that same call
				

A railway station
On a long forgotten line
No destination
But it always leaves on time

He buys his ticket
As the train prepares to leave
Don't want to miss it
On this night Christmas Eve

He stared into the night no expectations
He watched the world go by without a sound
He saw the city lights arrive and fade away
While all that night
All that night
The snow came down

No conversation
As the snow fell from the sky
His consolation
That the world is well disguised

He stared into the night no expectations
He watched the world go by without a sound
He saw the city lights arrive and fade away
While all that night
All that night
The snow came down

He stared into the night, no expectations
But in his heart he wanted to believe
That somehow someone would be waiting there
Upon this Christmas Eve

And when his train it pulled into that station
He saw there was a single pair of tracks
Within the snow and leading to that
Station door
And he followed those steps back

And on this night of our salvation
Where dreams that have been lost
Can there be found
They walked away together
On that Christmas Eve
While all that night
All that night
The snow came down

In this last season of the year
This season that we trust
It's not only important to know for whom we wait
But to know who waits for us

And as they walked home together
To the light of Christmas trees
They could not help but wonder
About how this night came to be

While back inside the attic
The girl saw them walking through the snow
And she smiled with a child's delight
Thinking how they would never know

And suddenly she realized
Beneath this night of stars
Sometimes Christmas uses its own hands
And sometimes it uses ours
				

Christmas time in the middle of a city

Seeking its salvation

With every string of lights
That suddenly appears

Children stare with new found wonder
No one dares to break the trance
Every wish is carefully numbered
And God has granted all a second chance
This day

And all at once
The dream's begun
And as we mark the old year's passing
Strangers greet
On every street
And suddenly there's goodwill everywhere
There's Christmas in the air

On this night
To this light
We see it all again
On this night
To this light
We see it all again

On this night
To this light
We see it all again

On this night
To this light
We see it all again
All again
On this winter night
We still wait for you
And now the time has come
When all the world is one
And as we mark the old year's passing
Strangers greet
On every street
And suddenly there's goodwill everywhere
There's Christmas in the air

There comes a time when we're on our own
Some times in life such a thing must be
But such a thing should not be known
This night
This night
This night

And all at once
The dream's begun
And as we mark the old year's passing
Strangers greet
On every street
And suddenly there's goodwill everywhere
There's Christmas in the air

The final letter that she read
Was from a younger man
It came with a journal
That was all written by hand

He had done something so wrong in life
That he no longer wished to live
But on this night he had a dream
And found that God forgives

If we truly regret how others we have hurt
He will understand
So he took the message from this night
And became a different man
				

In the night
Was the dark
In the dark
Was the dream
In the dream
Was the Child
And myself
There unseen

In the book was the word
In the word there was truth
In the truth there was age
In the age there was youth

And I said to the Child
Do your hands they still bleed
After all of this time
Do you think there's still need
But the Child only smiled

And said not a word
And the snow it came down
As if it hadn't heard

And all that night the snow came down
To heal the scars our lives had found
And the dreams that lay broken

And there upon a bridge of dreams
Across the night we walked unseen
With no words ever spoken

And then on through that night
We did walk for a while
And our steps turned to blocks
And the blocks turned to miles

Then we followed a path
For as far as we could
Till we found ourselves there
In an evergreen woods

There were thousands of candles
Upon every tree
It was beautiful
But there was one mystery
For with all of those candles
You must understand
That the only one lit
Was now in that Child's hand

And there upon that Christmas scene
The candle wax of melted dreams
And the years they had taken

And as the snow did gently fall
He one by one relit them all
Till each dream was awakened

And there to that light
That young Child showed to me
All the things that he dreamt
All the things that might be
How for everything given
That something was gained
Strike one match in the dark
And all the world's not the same

And then I asked that Child
Why this night has a star
And he said, "So we'd know
That we could see that far"
And these candles are wed
To that distant star's light
And it all came to be
Upon that long winter's night
That long winter's night
That long winter's night
That long winter's night

And when I awoke, well the Child he was gone
But somewhere in my mind
I believe he lives on
And somewhere in my life
Between here and the end
On a long winter's night
I will dream him again

Then she noticed on some Christmas cards
A reddish purple stain
Where someone had spilled some Christmas wine
And there it had remained

Until the heat from a radiator
Whistling in the air
Had caused it to evaporate
Into an angel's share
				

Deep inside this Christmas Eve
Watching as the hours leave
Gently drifting in the air
Shadows of an angel's share

Christmas lights
On Christmas nights
With peace for every nation
Stable scenes
And evergreens
With snow still glistening

Angels grace
This humble place
With hopes of our salvation
Christmas cards
And snow filled yards
And children wondering

Rejoice
All awaken
Rejoice
Quickly hasten
Rejoice
For the newborn king

Rejoice
For the vision
Rejoice
He has given
Hear the choirs as they sing

Scrooge returns
To once more learn
That Christmas ghosts conspire

To redeem
His soul it seems
But still he hesitates

To believe
He's not deceived
Until this night inspires
Him to find
That at this time
It never is too late

Rejoice
All awaken
Rejoice
Quickly hasten
Rejoice
For the newborn king

Rejoice
For the vision
Rejoice
He has given
Hear the choirs as they sing
And sing
And sing
And sing and sing and sing

Winter dreams
Her endless scenes
In endless combinations
To embrace
This world of faith
This world that we now see

Every year
It returns here
With all its variations
And as the day

It fades away
And we once more find that...

Once again the promise kept
One by one the angels slept
So we leave this night in peace
And the world in gentle sleep

When she finished the last letter
From that little stack
She put each one in its envelope
And carefully put them back

Then she sat and thought quite carefully
About all she had learned
Realizing that her belief in this night
Had completely returned

For if all these grownups she had read
Had in this night believed
It could not be possible
That they all had been deceived

And she marveled how though every letter
Was signed with a different name
That in the end it seemed that all
Their wishes were the same

That the light that reached our lives
From that distant Christmas star
Would make us, if not perfect
Then perhaps better than who we are

And suddenly she noticed
That there was a present there
He must have come and left it
When she had gone down the stairs

Then she realized as for that chimney
She needn't have worried after all
For Christmas she had found this night
Could not be stopped by walls

Could not be stopped by distance
Could not be stopped by time
And if one lived a thousand years
It would still be there to find

Now some will say that all these gifts
Were left by her father or her mother
But I for one, will always suspect
It could have been another

And before she went back down the stairs
With her fading candlelight
She found some paper and wrote down
All that had occurred that night

 

And sometime on some distant night
We really can't say when
Someone will read that letter
And this night will live again

And so our story's over
And the child returned to bed
To dream about this magic night
And where it all had led

And the Angel who had heard her thoughts
About what she had learned
Now realized that his job was done
And it was time he should return

And taking back all he had brought
He returned just in time
To appear before his Lord
And tell him what he had left behind
There were two souls reunited
On a snow blessed Christmas Eve
And sleeping safely in her bed
Was the child who still believed

And once again the Lord smiled down
From his heavenly throne
And took the Angel into his heart
And whispered, welcome home

And may you also hear those words
All through your life
But may you hear them most of all
On every Christmas night

Merry Christmas!

 

Post Script

And the most magical thing
About this night we will now reiterate
That no matter where you are in life
It never is too late
				

Remember last Christmas Eve
When we sat next to our first tree
Ornaments reflected light
Of a candle in the night

And I gave you a music box
Back then that seemed like so much
We watched it go round and round
As the melodies unwound

But all these things are now long gone
And not to be wished upon again

But the music box continues to turn
The candle in the window continues to burn
But I know they're just memories
Like Christmas past and you and me

Remember that old fireplace
That held the room in warm embrace
And as we watched for Christmas ghosts
The fire held the shadows close

But now upon that Christmas scene
The candle wax of melted dreams
And ornaments of shattered glass
Now belonging to the past

But all these things are now long gone
And not to be wished upon again

But the music box continues to turn
The candle in the window continues to burn
But I know they're just memories
Like Christmas past and you and me

I miss you baby
Oh yes, I do
And it's been far too long
Since I last laid eyes on you

I got the lights upon the Christmas tree
I got the candle lit for you to see
And beside this window I will wait
For inside this night it's not too late

I got the lights
Up on the tree
They're shining bright
If you'd just believe
Just believe with me

The candles burning
You know I'm gonna wait
The clock keeps turning
But I know it's not
I know it's not too late

I got the lights upon the Christmas tree
I got the candle lit for you to see
And beside this window I will wait
For inside this night
I know it's not too late