Lyrics to
Christmas Must Be Tonight

This version of Christmas Must Be Tonight was released by The Band in 1975.

Our About The Band page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Christmas Must Be Tonight from 1975 as well as all of the other lyrics from The Band that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to The Band or about the 1970s in general.

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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The Band has released many songs over the years besides Christmas Must Be Tonight. The Band released songs from 1968 to 2002 spanning across albums like Music From Big Pink, The Band, Stage Fright, Cahoots, Moondog Matinee, Northern Lights - Southern Cross, Islands, Jericho, High On The Hog, Jubilation, and The Last Waltz. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Band.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1975 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Christmas Must Be Tonight by The Band

The lyrics for Christmas Must Be Tonight are defined as the words making up the song released by The Band in 1975. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Christmas Must Be Tonight have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only The Band and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Christmas Must Be Tonight by The Band if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Christmas Must Be Tonight" means the words set to the music of Christmas Must Be Tonight, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by The Band. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Christmas Must Be Tonight and the lyrics to Christmas Must Be Tonight are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of The Band who came here looking just for the lyrics to Christmas Must Be Tonight, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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