On the Road to Christmas

Song Cycle by Jake Heggie (b. 1961)

1. The night is freezing fast  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
The night is freezing fast,
  To-morrow comes December;
    And winterfalls of old
Are with me from the past;
  And chiefly I remember
    How Dick would hate the cold.
 
Fall, winter, fall; for he,
  Prompt hand and headpiece clever,
    Has woven a winter robe,
And made of earth and sea
  His overcoat for ever,
    And wears the turning globe.

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2. The car ride to Christmas

Language: English 
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3. Good King Merrily on high

Language: English 
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4. I wonder as I wander  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
I wonder as I wander out under the sky
how Jesus [the]1 Saviour did come for to die
for poor [ordn'ry]2 people like you and like I
I wonder as I wander out under the sky

when Mary birthed Jesus 'twas in a cow stall
with wise men and [farmers and shepherds]3 and all
[but high from the Heavens a star's light did fall]4
[and a promise of ages it then did recall]5

If Jesus had wanted [for]6 any wee thing
A star in the sky or a bird on the wing;
Or all of God's angels in Heav'n for to sing,
He surely [could have it 'cause]7 he was the King!

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Je m'émerveille en marchant", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Je m'interroge en me promenant", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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Note provided by Jeroen Scholten: This text is often described as an Appalachian carol transcribed by Niles, but he did more than transcribe it according to The Songs of John Jacob Niles: New Edition Containing Eight Additional Songs, with a Preface by John Jacob Niles, New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1993. From Niles's preface, dated 1975: "Suffice it to say that I wrote it in 1933, based on a fragment I overheard in the courthouse square in Murphy, N.C." (Thanks to Rufus Browning for the information). See also I Wonder as I Wander: The Life of John Jacob Niles by Ron Pen, University Press of Kentucky, 2010, pages 154-155, for a description of the development of the text.

1 Berio, Britten: "our"
2 Britten: "or’n’ry"; Rutter: "ornery"
3 Britten: "shepherds and farmers"
4 Britten: "On high from God’s heaven the star’s light did fall,"
5 Berio: "the promise of ages it then did recall."; Britten: "And the promise of the ages it did then recall." ; omitted by Rutter
6 Berio: "of"
7 Berio: "could have had it 'cause"; Britten: "could've had it for"

Researcher for this page: Jeroen Scholten

5. The Road to Bethlehem  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
The Savior must have been
A docile Gentleman -- 
To come so far so cold a Day
For little Fellowmen -- 
The Road to Bethlehem
Since He and I were Boys
Was leveled, but for that 'twould be
A rugged Billion Miles --

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6. And then the setting sun

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7. Christmas time of year

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Total word count: 211