Band – Christmas Must Be Tonight

Today is Christmas Eve. This is when our family has our Christmas. My parents were divorced when I was 5 and after that…Christmas Eve was the only day of the year that my Mom, Dad, Sister, and yours truly would be together and they would get actually along. So, because of that, Christmas has always meant a lot to me. My mom and dad are gone now but as corny as it sounds… the magic of Christmas stays with me. My son is in Germany with his girlfriend this year but we will have a good time and I will think back at all of Christmas Eve’s past. Sort of like a good ghost that tells me I have a lot to be thankful for.

Robbie Robertson’s Christmas gift to his new son Sebastian during the sessions for Northern Lights-Southern Cross album… never became a seasonal favorite but it should have been. It wasn’t released until the Islands album in 1977.

Rick Danko sings this song from a Shepherd’s point of view. It’s pure and down to earth like only the Band can be. No sleigh bells or other Christmas trappings…just pure music. Maybe that is the reason it never got picked up.

Robbie Robertson re-recorded this song after he left the group. And he did for the soundtrack of Bill Murray’s Scrooged. That version is very good but I still like The Bands version much more…it’s hard to beat Rick Danko.

Christmas Must Be Tonight

Come down to the manger, see the little stranger
Wrapped in swaddling clothes, the prince of peace
Wheels start turning, torches start burning
And the old wise men journey from the East

How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
This must be Christmas, must be tonight

A shepherd on a hillside, where over my flock I bide
Oh a cold winter night a band of angels sing
In a dream I heard a voice saying “fear not, come rejoice
It’s the end of the beginning, praise the new born king”

I saw it with my own eyes, written up in the skies
But why a simple herdsmen such as I
And then it came to pass, he was born at last
Right below the star that shines on high

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

20 thoughts on “Band – Christmas Must Be Tonight”

  1. Honestly I’ve forgot about this wonderful song, thanks for bringing it back! It’s great you formulated such a positive picture of Christmas that you can always keep. Have a Merry Christmas Eve and day tomorrow as well my friend.

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  4. Such a beautiful and warm sounding song I hadn’t heard before. I think you’re right, because it doesn’t have the typical Christmas bells and whistles and you need to listen to the lyrics, it didn’t become better known. If I see this correctly, The Band didn’t release “Christmas Must Be Tonight” as a single, so I imagine that became another factor contributing to the beautiful song’s relative obscurity.

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  6. Max, I listened to this earlier today at Song Lyric Sunday. It’s a good’n. It’s great your parents chose to get along one day a year for you and your sister’s sake. When my ex and I got divorced the kids would spend every other Christmas morning with me and their dad, but even on the ones where they were with him he would have them back by 3 so the kids and I could go out to my folks’ house for the family celebration. The best times I remember as a kid was down at my grandparents’ family gathering.

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    1. I’m glad both of you worked out a system that was good for the kids. That can be so tough on the kids and parents..I was lucky on my part.
      I would love going to my grandmothers on Christmas Eve as a kid and coming back home and everything would be ready from Santa. I remember in my stocking..tangerines would be there among other things..they would be cold…and I thought they were from the north pole…best tangerines ever! When I found out about Santa from a neighbor…it didn’t really bother me at all…because of family.

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      2. Thanks for listening! I haven’t thought of those in a long time…it was a wonderful Christmas Eve…now we will relax and watch some Christmas movies.

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  8. I had not heard this song before also. They produce a wonderfully rich sound here which comes as no surprise.
    I appreciated reading your reflections on the meaning of Christmas for you and your family. I hope Bailey is enjoying Germany. Cheers.

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