Good King Joy

(album: Christmas Eve And Other Stories - 1996)

Joy to the world
The Lord has come
Let earth
Receive her king

Now it was long ago
When it all began
Back in Bethlehem
In the promised land

When a single star
Appeared in the sky
And three kings saw
And they each asked why
Asked why...

And they checked the books
Full of prophecy
And the one king said
Why it's plain to me

You see it means
That a king is born
Who will save mankind
On this blessed morn
Blessed morn...

So they packed some gold
Myrrh and frankincense
On some old camel
With some fancy tents

Closed down the house
Set the servants free
And three kings rode
Into history
History...

It was long ago
In a foreign land
When the Lord looked down
Said to make a stand
So He sent His son
And said, 'through him you'll know me!'
You'll know me

Then the angels came
And when they start to sing
All at once the past

It doesn't mean a thing
And the star comes out
And the wise men say, Hey show me!
Oh, show me

And they followed it
Over hills and sand
Til' they found the child
Like it all was planned
And as they knelt before
The newborn king

The angel's were singing
In their angel style
How all of our hopes
Had come down to this child

THEN HE REACHED FOR THE SONG
AND HE HELD IT IN HIS HAND
(IT WAS SOMETHING THAT HE DID
BECAUSE ANGELS CAN)

AND HE WONDERED TO HIMSELF
"IT THIS THE ANSWER THAT I SOUGHT"
BUT SOMETHING WAS STILL MISSING
OR AT LEAST SO HE STILL THOUGHT

AND SO HE JOURNEYED ON
THROUGH THE MIDNIGHT WINTER AIR
WHEN ALL AT ONCE OUR ANGEL
FELT THE TOUCH OF A MAN'S PRAYER

AND LOOKING ONCE MORE TO THE EARTH
TO DETERMINE WHENCE IT CAME
HE FELT A MILLION SOULS BELOW
BUT ONE WAS NOT THE SAME

FOR THERE HE SAW A MAN ALONE
THOUGH HE WAS WALKING IN A CROWD
AND THOUGH THIS MAN HAD RARELY PRAYED
TONIGHT HIS HEAD WAS BOWED

FOR EVEN IN A CROWD, YOU SEE
A HEART CAN FEEL ALONE
WHEN THE NIGHT IS CHRISTMAS EVE
A CHILD IS NOT AT HOME

SO FROM A FATHER TO THE LORD
A PRAYER DID SWIFTLY RACE
BUT THE ANGEL SAW IT FIRST
AND HE LISTENED TO ITS CASE