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 k**ing for their god Now the angel heard god speak many times And he had always paid attention But this k**ing 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 this music played One always could find hope