G                
A frosty Christmas Eve, when the stars where shining
    Em                          C                  D
I traveled for the home, where westward falls the hill
         C            D               C               D
And for many, many a village, in the darkness of the valley
         G                          C          G
distant music reached me, peels of bells were ringing.
 
G
Then spread my thoughts to olden times, to that first of Christmases
       Em                                C            D
when shepherds who were watching, heard music in the fields
          C                  D                   C                  D
and they sat there and they marveled, and they knew they could not tell
        G                        C             G
whether it were angels, or the bright stars a-singing
 
G
But to me heard a far, it was starry music
     Em                         C              D
the singing of the angels, the comfort of our Lord
         C                 D                C             D
words of old that come a traveling, by the riches of the times
       G                      C             G    
and I softly listened, as I stood upon the hill
                              C             G
and I softly listened, as I stood upon the hill