Lyrics to
Little Drummer Boy

This version of Little Drummer Boy was released by The Temptations in 1970.

Our About The Temptations page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Little Drummer Boy from 1970 as well as all of the other lyrics from The Temptations that we have in our lyrics database.

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

Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum
Our new born King to see
Pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
So to honor Him,
Pa rum pum pum pum
When we come

Baby Gesu
Pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy to,
Pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give our King
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you
Pa rum pum pum
On my drum

Mary nodded
Pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time
Pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him
Pa rum pum pum
I played my best for Him
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Then He smiled at me
Pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum
Me and my drum
Me and my drum…

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The Temptations has released many songs over the years besides Little Drummer Boy. The Temptations released songs from 1964 to 1980 spanning across albums like Meet The Temptations, The Temptations Sing Smokey, The Temptin' Temptations, Gettin' Ready, The Temptations With A Lot O' Soul, The Temptations In A Mellow Mood, The Temptations Wish It Would Rain, Cloud Nine, Puzzle People, The Temptations Christmas Card, Psychedelic Shack, Sky's The Limit, All Directions, Solid Rock, Masterpiece, A Song For You, and Give Love At Christmas. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Temptations.

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

About Lyrics and Little Drummer Boy by The Temptations

The lyrics for Little Drummer Boy are defined as the words making up the song released by The Temptations in 1970. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Little Drummer Boy 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 Temptations 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 Little Drummer Boy by The Temptations 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 Little Drummer Boy" means the words set to the music of Little Drummer Boy, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by The Temptations. 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 Little Drummer Boy and the lyrics to Little Drummer Boy are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of The Temptations who came here looking just for the lyrics to Little Drummer Boy, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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