Sting - If on a Winter's Night... Album Lyrics

(Traditional - Words by Sabine Baring Gould)

The Angel Gabriel from heaven came
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame
"All hail" said he thou Holy Maiden Mary
(to holy mary)
Most highly favoured lady Gloria
(Most highly favoured lady Gloria)

For know a blessed mother thou shalt be
All generations laud and honor thee
Thy son shall be Emmanuel as seers foretold
Most highly favoured lady Gloria
(Most highly favoured lady Gloria)

The gentle Mary meekly bowed her head
"To me, be as it pleaseth God" she said
"My soul shall laud and magnify his holy name"
Most highly favoured lady Gloria
(Most highly favoured lady Gloria)

Of her Emmanuel, the Christ was born
In Bethlehem all on a Christmas morn
And everyone through out the world will ever say
Most highly favoured lady Gloria
(Most highly favoured lady Gloria)

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
One for Peter, two for Paul
And three for Him that made us all

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry

God bless the master of this house
And the mistress also
And all the little children
That round your table grow

The cattle in your stable
The dogs at your front door
And all that dwell within your gates
We'll wish you ten times more

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
One for Peter, two for Paul
And three for Him that made us all

Go down into the cellar
And see what you can find
If the barrels are not empty
We'll hope that you'll be kind

We'll hope that you'll be kind
With your apple and your pear
And we'll come no more a-soulin'
Till Christmas time next year

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
One for Peter, two for Paul
And three for Him that made us all

The streets are very dirty
Me shoes are very thin
I have a little pocket
To put a penny in

If you haven't got a penny
A ha'penny will do
If you haven't got a ha'penny
Then God bless you

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry

A soul cake, a soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
One for Peter, two for Paul
And three for Him that made us all
For Him that made us all
For Him that made us all

There is no rose of such virtue
As is the rose that bare Jesu;
Alleluia.

For in this rose contained was
Heaven and earth in little space;
Res miranda.

By that rose we may well see
That he is God in persons three,
Pari forma.

The angels sungen the shepherds to:
Gloria in excelsis deo:
Gaudeamus.

Leave we all this worldly mirth,
And follow we this joyful birth;
Transeamus.

Alleluia, res miranda,
Pares forma, gaudeamus,
Transeamus.

(Trad; arranged by Sting)

Oh the snow it melts the soonest when the winds begin to sing
And the corn it ripens fastest when the frosts are setting in,
And when a woman tells me that my face she'll soon forget,
Before we part I want to croon, she's fain to follow yet.

Oh the snow it melts the soonest when the wind begins to sing,
And the swallow skims without a thought as long as it is Spring,
But when Spring goes and Winter grows, my loss and you'll be fain,
For all your pride you'll follow my across the stormy main.

Oh the snow it melts the soonest when the winds begin to sing,
The bee that flew when Summer shone, in Winter cannot sting,
I've seen a woman's anger melt between the night and morn
And it's surely not a harder thing to tame a woman's scorn.

Oh never say me farewell here, no farewell I'll receive,
For you shall take me to the stile, I'll kiss and take your leave,
But I'll stay here 'til the woodcock comes and the matler takes his wing
Since the snow it melts the soonest when the winds begin to sing.

(Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, arranged by Sting)

All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;
All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.

We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared;
But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard.
So's we saw the cliff and houses and the breakers running high,
And the coastguard in his garden, with his glass against his eye.

The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;
The good red fires were burning bright in every longshore home;
The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.

The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer;
For it's just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)
This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn,
And the house above the coastguard's was the house where I was born.

And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me,
Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea;
And O the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way,
To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessed Christmas Day.

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
Lo, how a rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung,
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.

It came a flow'ret bright
Amid the cold of winter
When half-spent was the night.
Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
This Rose that I have in mind.

And with Mary we behold it,
The Virgin Mother so sweet and so kind.
To show God's love aright,
She bore to men a Savior
When half-spent was the night.

7 Cold Song
What power art thou who from below
Hast made me rise unwillingly and slow
From beds of everlasting snow?
See'st thou not how stiff, how stiff and wondrous old,
Far, far unfit to bear the bitter cold?
I can scarcely move or draw my breath,
Let me, let me, let me freeze again to death.

(Music by Henry Purcell, Lyrics by John Dryden)

What power art thou,
Who from below,
Hast made me rise,
Unwillingly and slow,
From beds of everlasting snow!

See'st thou not how stiff,
And wondrous old,
Far unfit to bear the bitter cold.

I can scarcely move,
Or draw my breath,
I can scarcely move,
Or draw my breath.

Let me, let me,
Let me, let me,
Freeze again...
Let me, let me,
Freeze again to death!

(Music by Chris Wood, Poem by Robert Southwell)

As I in hoary winter's night
Stood shivering in the snow,
Surprised I was with sudden heat
Which made my heart to glow;
And lifting up a fearful eye
To view what fire was near,
A pretty babe all burning bright
Did in the air appear;
Who, scorched with excessive heat,
Such floods of tears did shed,
As though His floods should quench His flames,
Which with His tears were bred:
'Alas!' quoth He, 'but newly born
In fiery heats I fry,
Yet none approach to warm their hearts
Or feel my fire but I!
'My faultless breast the furnace is;
The fuel, wounding thorns;
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke;
The ashes, shames and scorns;
The fuel Justice layeth on,
And Mercy blows the coals,
The metal in this furnace wrought
Are men's defiled souls:
For which, as now on fire I am
To work them to their good,
So will I melt into a bath,
To wash them in my blood.'
With this He vanish'd out of sight
And swiftly shrunk away,
And straight I called unto mind
That it was Christmas Day.

(Music by Henry Purcell, Lyrics by Elkanah Settle, Arranged by Sting)

Now Winter comes slowly, Pale, Meager, and Old,
First trembling with Age, and then quiv'ring with Cold;
Benum'd with hard Frosts, and with Snow cover'd o'er,
Prays the Sun to Restore him, and Sings as before.

Mercury falling
I rise from my bed
Collect my thoughts together
I have to hold my head
It seems that she's gone
And somehow I am pinned by
The Hounds of Winter
Howling in the wind

I walk through the day
My coat around my ears
I look for my companion
I have to dry my tears
It seems that she's gone
Leaving me too soon
I'm as dark as December
I'm as cold as the Man in the Moon

I still see her face
As beautiful as day
It's easy to remember
Remember my love that way
All I hear is that lonesome sound
The Hounds of Winter
They follow me down

I can't make up the fire
The way that she could
I spend all my days
In the search for dry wood
Board all the windows and close the front door
I can't believe she won't be here anymore

I still see her face
As beautiful as day
It's easy to remember
Remember my love that way
All I hear is that lonesome sound
The Hounds of Winter
They follow me down

A season for joy
A season for sorrow
Where she's gone
I will surely, surely follow
She brightened my day
She warmed the coldest night
The Hounds of Winter
They got me in their sights

I still see her face
As beautiful as day
It's easy to remember
Remember my love that way
All I hear is that lonesome, lonesome sound
The Hounds of Winter
They harry me down

(Trad; arranged by Sting)

I come from hevin which to tell
The best nowells that e'er befell
To you thir tythings trew I bring
And I will of them say and sing.

This day to you is born ane child
Of Marie meik and Virgin mild
That bliss it bairn bening and kind
Sall you rejoice baith hart and mind.

Lat us rejoyis and be blyth
And with the Hyrdis go full swyth
And see what God fo his grace hes done
Throu Christ to bring us to his throne

My saull and life stand up and see
Wha lyis in ane cribbe of tree
What Babe is that, sa gude and fair
It is Christ, God's Son and Air.

O my deir hart, yung Jesus sweit
Prepair thy creddil in my spreit!
And I sall rock thee in my hart
And never mair fra thee depart.

But I sall praise thee evermoir
With sangis sweit unto thy gloir
The kneis of my hart sall I bow
And sing that rycht Balulalow.

When Joseph was an old man, an old man was he
He courted Virgin Mary, the queen of Galilee
He courted Virgin Mary, the queen of Galilee

When Joseph and Mary were walking one day
Here is apples and cherries so fair to behold
Here is apples and cherries so fair to behold

Then Mary spoke to Joseph so meek and so mild
"Joseph, gather me some cherries for I am with child"
"Oh Joseph, gather me some cherries for I am with child"

Then Joseph flew in anger, in anger he flew
"Oh, let the father of the baby gather cherries for you"
"Oh, let the father of the baby gather cherries for you"

So the cherry-tree bowed low down, low down to the ground
And Mary gathered cherries while Joseph stood down
And Mary gathered cherries while Joseph stood down

Then Joseph took Mary all on his right knee
Crying, "Lord, have mercy for what I have done"
Crying, "Lord, have mercy for what I have done"

When Joseph was an old man, an old man was he
He courted Virgin Mary, the queen of Galilee
He courted Virgin Mary, the queen of Galilee

(Sting & Dominic Miller)

Hush child
Let your mommy sleep into the night until we rise
Hush child
Let me soothe the shining tears that gather in your eyes
Hush child
I won't leave I'll stay with you to cross this Bridge of Sighs
Hush child
I can help the look of accusation in your eyes
In your eyes

The world is broken and now
All in sorrow
Wise men hang their heads

Hush child
Let your mommy sleep into the night until we rise
Hush child
All the strength I'll need to find, I'll find inside your eyes
In your eyes

Thrown like a star in my vast sleep
I open my eyes to take a peep
To find that I was by the sea
Gazing with tranquillity.

'Twas then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love,
Then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love.

Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.

Histories of ages past
Unenlightened shadows cast
Down through all eternity
The crying of humanity.

'Tis then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Comes singing songs of love,
Then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Comes singing songs of love.

Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.

Here comes the roly poly man and he's singing songs of love,
Roly poly, roly poly, roly poly, poly he sang.

Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang,
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang

(Trad; arranged by Sting)

Always this winter child,
December's sun sits low against the sky
Cold light on frozen fields,
The cattle in their stable lowing.

When two walked this winter road,
Ten thousand miles seemed nothing to us then,
Now one walks with heavy tread
The space between their footsteps slowing

All day the snow did fall,
What's left of the day is close drawn in,
I speak your name as if you'd answer me,
But the silence of the snow is deafening

How well do I recall our arguments,
Our logic owed no debts or recompense,
Philosophy and faith were ghosts
That we would chase until
The gates of heaven were broken

But something makes me turn, I don't know,
To see another's footsteps there in the snow,
I smile to myself and then I wonder why it is
You only cross my mind in winter