Lyrics to
O Little Town Of Bethlehem

This version of O Little Town Of Bethlehem was released by Emmylou Harris in 1979.

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O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see the lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.
For Christ is born of Mary,
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth!
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.
How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.
The hopes ans fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight

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Emmylou Harris has released many songs over the years besides O Little Town Of Bethlehem. Emmylou Harris released songs from 1969 to 2003 spanning across albums like Gliding Bird, Elite Hotel, Pieces Of The Sky, Luxury Liner, Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town, Light Of The Stable, Blue Kentucky Girl, Roses In The Snow, Cimarron, Evangeline, Last Date, White Shoes, The Ballad Of Sally Rose, Thirteen, Angel Band, Trio, Bluebird, Duets, Brand New Dance, At The Ryman, Cowgirl's Prayer, Wrecking Ball, Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions, Trio II, Red Dirt Girl, and Stumble Into Grace. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Emmylou Harris.

If you're a fan of popular 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1979 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and O Little Town Of Bethlehem by Emmylou Harris

The lyrics for O Little Town Of Bethlehem are defined as the words making up the song released by Emmylou Harris in 1979. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to O Little Town Of Bethlehem have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Emmylou Harris 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 O Little Town Of Bethlehem by Emmylou Harris 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 O Little Town Of Bethlehem" means the words set to the music of O Little Town Of Bethlehem, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Emmylou Harris. 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 O Little Town Of Bethlehem and the lyrics to O Little Town Of Bethlehem are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Emmylou Harris who came here looking just for the lyrics to O Little Town Of Bethlehem, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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