“Away in a Manger”

Another Christmas Alliance post.

Away in a manger,
no crib for His bed,
The little Lord Jesus
lay down his sweet head.
The stars in the sky
looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus,
asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing,
the poor Baby wakes,
But little Lord Jesus,
no crying He makes;
I love Thee, Lord Jesus,
look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle
till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus,
I ask Thee to stay,
Close by me forever,
and love me, I pray!
Bless all the dear children
in Thy tender care
And take us to heaven,
to Live with Thee there.

Much better tune than what this song is usually sung to throughout most of the US. The tempo the snippet below is played at is too fast for singing the song properly, but the tune’s beautiful and works much better with the lyrics when sung at a proper tempo~75-100bpm (max).

NOTE: I have long since lost track of just where I ran across this performance. I’m pretty sure it’s from a collection of Christmas CDs I have packed away in a box somewhere… and when/if I locate it, I’ll post a link to the CD for those who may wish to purchase a copy of the full performance. But in compensation, here’s “Celtic Woman” in a nice–not one of the best but nice–rendition. (If you want my critique of the vocalist, ask. Otherwise, I’ll just say I enjoyed it anyway. :-))