Star Carol

Several years ago, I was listening to some of my Grandparents' old Christmas albums on my parents' record player, and I discovered this song as it was sung by Anna Maria Alberghetti. I was enthralled, and each year I continue to get out that old scratchy record so I can listen to it at Christmas time.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out the story of Alfred S. Burt (1920-1954) and his carols. We all know his songs "Caroling, Caroling" and "Some Children See Him," but I had never heard his story until I found it on the back of a record jacket. (And, of course, it's all now on Wikipedia.)

Mr. Burt was a minister's son and a jazz musician. Each year he wrote a song to celebrate Christmas and sent it out as his family's Christmas card. These songs have the quality, not of modern music, but of traditional Christmas carols, and performers of great stature have helped make them famous during the years since his death in 1954.

I'm very happy to listen to the old records in all their scratchy, nostalgic glory, and this old 1965 Goodyear Christmas record (Album 5) will continue to be one of my favorites, with "Star Carol" probably more worn than the other songs on the album.

"Star Carol"

Long years ago, on a deep winter night,
High in the heavens, a star shone bright,
While in the manger, a wee baby lay,
Sweetly asleep, on a bed of hay.

Jesus our lord, was that baby so small,
Lay down to sleep, in a humble stall.
Then came the star, and it stood over head,
Shedding its light, 'round his little head.

Dear baby Jesus, how tiny thou art.
I'll make a place, for thee in my heart,
And when the stars, in the heavens I see,
Ever and always, I'd think of thee...
-Alfred Burt, 1954


Merry Christmas, everyone.