Do You Hear What I Hear

Do You Hear What I Hear?
Said the night wind to the little lamb.
Do you see what I see,
Way up in the sky little lamb?
Do you see what I see?
A star, a star,
Dancing in the night,
With a tail as big as a kite,
With a tail as big as a kite.

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear?
(Do you hear what I hear?)
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear?
(Do you hear what I hear?)
A song, a song,
High above the trees,
With a voice as big as the sea,
With a voice as big as the sea.

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
Do you know what I know,
In your palace wall mighty king?
Do you know what I know?
(Do you know what I know?)
A child, a child,
Shivers in the cold,
Let us bring him silver and gold,
Let us bring him silver and gold.

Said the king to the people everywhere,
Listen to what I say?
(Listen to what I say?)
Pray for peace, people everywhere,
Listen to what I say.
(Listen to what I say.)
The child, the child,
Sleeping in the night,
He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light.

Not all carols are 100 years old or more – this one is relatively recent, having been written in 1962. OK, so that’s nearly sixty years ago, but it’s a newcomer in the history of Christmas carols. It was written by Noël Regney (1922-2002) and Gloria Shayne Baker (1923-2008), a French songwriter and composer and his American wife. That the song is so recent means that it’s probably still in copyright so read and enjoy it while you can as not all copyright holders embrace the spirit of Christmas and may demand it’s taken down. Actually, it’s not quite the copyright version as that one isn’t punctuated and I’ve added a few question marks, commas, and full stops to aid readability.

Regney, who was working in the USA at the time, later noted that although he and his wife had been commissioned to write a Christmas song, in fact they wrote about the Cuban missile crisis that was escalating in October 1962: even I can remember that, and being told by teachers at school that they wouldn’t be setting any homework that week because they may not be in a position to collect it from us later. (It was a dark joke, but indicative of those times.)

The song doesn’t reference the birth of Jesus directly but brings together the star, the lambs, the shepherds and the wise men (kings) in an semi-secular way. It has been accepted at a Christmas song and really came to public attention in 1963 when Bing Crosby released his version of the song the following year for Christmas 1963.

Since then hardly a year has passed without another well known singer including it on their own Christmas record. Among the bigger names are – in order of the release date: Jack Jones (1964), Andy Williams (1965), Pat Boone (1966), Perry Como (1968), Johnny Mathis (1968), Gladys Knight (1975), The Carpenters (1984), Whitney Houston (1987), Donna Summer (1994), Glen Campbell (1996), Kelly Rowland (2001), Kenny G (2002), Patty LaBelle (2007), Alicia Keys (2007), Carrie Underwood (2008), Johnny Cash (2008), Bob Dylan (2009), Susan Boyle (2010), and Belinda Carlisle (2015).

As a contemporary song I’m inclined to include another contemporary image – maybe the Shard acting as our star of materialism drawing supplicants to London Bridge station, or Borough Market, or the now-dwarfed Southwark Cathedral

Merry Christmas

Do You Hear What I Hear: written by Noel Regney and Gloria Shane, published by EMI CMG Publishing / Jewel Music Publishing

Photo of The Shard, as a star in the sky over London, thanks to JJ Jordan on Unsplash