What Child Is This? - 2016 Remaster

The old man stood there thinking
 While staring in that old toy shop
 With it's carousel still turning round
 In front of a music box clock
 For what good's a clock without a chime
 A useless thing that just keeps time
 Recording moments that come and leave
 But this clock's chimes struck midnight
 Upon a lost christmas eve
 And when the final chime had spoken
 And the twelfth bell had finally rung
 The indecision in the father was broken
 He now knew what had to be done
 So he got into a yellow cab
 And prayed that it might lead
 Through all this snow and streetlight glow
 To a past he might retrieve
 When the taxi dropped him off
 At the boarding house hotel
 It was a rundown building
 With a musty, rundown smell
 And he asked for his son
 From the hotel's night desk clerk
 Who said his son was not there
 He was not back from work
 When the father said that was impossible
 The clerk replied, "i'm not here to debate
 But he works at the hospital, just down the block
 If you want you can sit here and wait
 But he never returns till real late"
 Then the father tried asking another question
 But the clerk went back to watching his tv
 Which was also playing, "how the grinch stole christmas"
 And the father mused, "this movie has no sympathy,
 Well, at least not when it comes down to me"
 Once outside he saw the hospital's entrance
 And went to information by the front door
 Who confirmed that his son had a job there
 And worked up on the seventh floor
 So he took the elevator up to that floor
 Which was marked "maternity"
 And the man knew in his heart that this was a mistake
 For his son working here could not be
 But the nurse on duty reconfirmed that he did
 And since her rounds were about to begin
 If he would like to follow her
 She would gladly take the father to him
 So he followed her to a large dark room
 That to him seemed unusually empty
 Except for several incubators glowing on the right
 Each with a trembling baby
 These infants were all extremely frail
 And obviously in incredible pain
 And this sight cut deep into that father's soul
 And he asked the nurse, please, to explain
 "these children were born to mothers
 Who were addicted to crack cocaine
 And these children are born in complete withdrawal
 For that drug is still deep in their veins
 We can give them no other drugs to ease their withdrawals
 Since they are born premature and quite frail
 And any form of pain killer
 Could easily cause their small hearts to fail"
 "and what does my son do here?"
 The father asked, "he is not a patient, i assume"
 The nurse did not say a single word
 But nodded to the far left corner of the room
 And there the father saw his son
 Who looked like himself when he was a younger man
 Rocking back and forth in a rocking chair
 A trembling infant held in his hands
 And in his arms the child did not cry
 But slept to silent lullabies
 And his son rocked that newborn back and forth
 Until finally, a dream was caught
 But still at his rocking, his son faithfully kept
 Till that poor child's trembling had also, finally, left
 Then the nurse whispered softly
 Into the father's ear
 Something that a blind man could see
 But the father needed to hear
 Whispered to him in this room
 Filled with mankind's misbegotten
 Something that the father had known once
 But somehow had forgotten
 She said, "it is this way with each of us
 We all need to be held, at least twice
 Once upon the day that we are born
 And once more when we leave this life
 Your son has been coming to this place
 Since as long as i've been working here
 He's never missed a single day
 In nearly twenty years
 He always arrives promptly on time
 But a time card he does not keep
 For he never leaves this maternity room
 Until every last child is asleep"
 Then the nurse noticed the father
 Trying to choke back the things he now felt
 So mentioning she had to continue her rounds
 She quietly excused herself
 So he was now alone in the darkness
 Between the past and future caught
 Not knowing what to do
 As his mind flooded with so many thoughts
 Some beauty comes too early
 While it's moment never waits
 And some beauty is always there
 But never seen, till it's too late
 Look! there is a moment
 It has just slipped away
 And so we lose our lives
 In such ordinary ways
 Where do we get our dreams from?
 Where do we get our faith?
 Is it something that we are born with
 Or is it something for which we must wait?
 The mist of things we once believed
 The childhood truths for which we grieve
 And in our lives could we have missed
 Those that in the dark, the angels kiss
 What child is this
 Who laid to rest
 That i now find here sleeping?
 Do angels keep the dreams we seek
 While our hearts lie bleeding?
 Could this be christ the king
 Whose every breath the angels bring?
 Could this be the face of god, this child, the son i once carried?
 What child is this
 Who is so blessed he changes all tomorrows?
 Replacing tears with reborn years
 In hearts once dark and hollow
 Could this be christ the king
 Whose every breath the angels bring?
 Could this be the face of god, this child, the son i once carried?
 In the dead of the night
 As his life slips away
 As he reads by the light
 Of a star faraway
 Holding on
 Holding off
 Holding out
 Holding in
 Could you be this old
 And have your life just begin?
 Reading by the light of a lost christmas day
 It begins
 Reading by the light of a lost christmas day
 Tell me how many times can this story be told
 After all of these years it should all sound so old
 But it somehow rings true in the back of my mind
 As i search for a dream that words can no longer define
 Reading by the light of a lost christmas day
 And the time
 Reading by the light of a lost christmas day
 And the time and the years
 And the tears and the cost
 And the hopes and the dreams
 Of each child that is lost
 And the whisper of wings
 In the cold winter's air
 As the snow it comes down
 And visions appear everywhere
 Reading by the light of a lost christmas day
 In the air
 Reading by the light of a lost christmas day
 In the dead of the night
 As his life slips away
 As he reads by the light
 Of a star faraway
 Holding on
 Holding off
 Holding out
 Holding in
 Could you be this old
 And have your life just begin
 Reading by the light of a lost christmas day
 It begins
 Reading by the light of a lost christmas day
 It begins
 Reading by the light of a lost christmas day
 It begins
 Reading by the light of a lost christmas day
 It begins