Band – Christmas Must Be Tonight

Hope everyone is having a great Christmas Eve. I’ll be late commenting today, but I’ll get on as soon as I can.

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 the 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 the soundtrack for 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.

48 thoughts on “Band – Christmas Must Be Tonight”

  2. Once again, thank you for shining a light on this song that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. It is beautiful. Bruce Cockburn has a song on his Christmas album that he wrote called “Shepherds” that is very similar in tone, and he’s Canadian too. On a sad note, I was reading a list of musicians that had passed this year, and two that I didn’t know about were Todd Snider and Joe Ely. Didn’t know if you were aware or not. Hope Bailey is enjoying himself, and I wish you, your family, and all the commenters a Merry Christmas.

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    1. Yes I did hear about them…I liked both. Snider was very funny and Ely was fantastic. I just became a fan of him recently….as you know. Merry Christmas to you and yours….thank you so much for dropping by!

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  3. In the Gospel of Luke, anonymous shepherds were visited by angels and then went to see Jesus, spreading the news to others who were astonished. The shepherds were the first to receive the angelic announcement of the Messiah’s birth and became early witnesses, sharing what they saw and heard.

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      3. The one thing my sweetie & I have noticed, in our personal experiences this month is the overall mood in stores and from staff is nicer, more cheery than it has been in years, even when they’re busy. I hope that’s a new trend

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      4. Yes…it did seem much better! I will tell you something that cheered me up…buying gas at $2.24 while shopping…that put a smile on my face lol. But i do agree with you. I was at Kroger (I haven’t been at a Kroger in a decade) and their workers were so helpful helping me find a few things.

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  5. Pingback: Band – Christmas Must Be Tonight – MobsterTiger

  6. You’re post of this song and the context is very touching Max. I am hearing the song in a different light. I will be playing this today and tomorrow. I will listen to it again next year when I am missing my grandson’s who’ll be spending Christmas back home in Spain.

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      1. i actually heard a nice cover of this by My Morning Jacket in the car yesterday. They do it pretty well and not that far off this original. Which begs the question, why bother but I guess the answer might be so few people have heard the Band version and they wanted the song known

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