Marley's dead, his partner Scrooge
Owns the business now;
Even though his fortune's huge,
He's not happy--can't allow
People thinking he might give,
Even to a relative.
Save our souls from all such men,
Let our spirts lift again;
Rich men's heart's don't fly, it's found,
They're usually chained to solid ground.
Christmas has almost arrived:
Lord knows how we all survived.
In his heart Scrooge has no spot
That's warm--it's cold as ice.
The only time you see Scrooge hot
Is when he has to sacrifice
A little profit when he pays
His help for Christmas holidays.
If he sees you having fun,
Like dancing, cutting up the rug,
Old Scrooge has to be the one
To call our having fun, humbug.
When the dance floor's getting full,
It's "bah, humbug" and he means bull.
He's hard as flint, but there's no steel
That gets a spark off him.
He doesn't care, it's no big deal,
He's a man who likes it dim.
Scrooge is just like Marley was--
What Marley did, our Scrooge still does.
The evil eye you get from loners
Like Ebenezer Scrooge,
Makes seeing eyedogs pull their owners
Safely off to some refuge.
I've seen it lots, it never fails:
Looking up, dog wags its tail
In hopes its owner understands
That they sidestepped disaster.
"No eye at all is better than
An evil eye, dark master."
Speaking of evil--coming now,
Catch you later. Scrooge. Oh wow.
I like counting
Money out
And I count every penny:
As it's mounting
I still scout
Around this town for any
Penny that may roll my way
But not on this miserable Christmas day.
I love only
What's my own
And that is mainly money:
I'm not lonely,
Just alone
Because some think it's funny
Making money keeping books--
But I don't care how bad it looks.
Money mounting
Up, no doubt
The benefits are many.
By my counting
People out,
It saves a pretty penny.
You can't knock it, it's the way
The world goes round and round today.
I'm not lonely,
Just alone.
For company, there's money.
I keep only
To my own,
And I see nothing funny
Making money from the books,
I verify with second looks.
This Christmas humbug drives me wild;
The lazy and the spoiled child
Is all who Christmas benefits--
Them and Christian hypocrites.
Warts upon a larger wart,
Life is brutal, nasty, short.
When everything is said and done,
I'm looking out for number one.
Is what I'm wearing strange to you?
Don't you know you wear one too?
Chain worn of your own free will.
You can't feel it, growing still?
The night I died, the chain you bore
Would make a giant wince;
The night I died, the chain you wore,
You have worked on since.
One day, Scrooge, you'll feel the strain,
Scrooge, you wear a monster chain.
The only path my spirit stalked
Was hunting up a deal;
Money talked while humbug walked
And bleeding hearts would kneel.
But the point you musn't miss,
Is, Scrooge, you hear me? Money this!
Chains, dragging all these chains;
Gains. Profit, loss and gains.
Brains. I must have dropped my brains.
Alive, the misery I passed by
I'm passing by again.
Floating on the breeze I fly
Along with other men
To witness chances to do good;
Helpless now, though help we would.
Opportunity I misused;
Every priviledge I abused;
I'll never get the chance again
To do good like I could've then.
Oh, to know we'll never do
What's needing to be done
Until the likes of me and you,
Pass on to Kingdom Come.
I can see what's possible
For our precious earth.
But it's just as probable
It's milked for what it's worth:
You're going to suck the planet dry,
You hear me, Scrooge? Do you know why?
Let's get together
And all join in;
Grab your partner,
Let's begin
Dancing to the drummer's beat--
It's lively, now, so watch your feet.
Turn around, dance back to back;
Two steps forward, one step back;
Turn again and come on back
Together like you want to do.
Let go a hand, and take a spin,
Half way round and back again;
Dance real close it ain't no sin--
My oh my, how do you do?
Let's get together
And all join in;
Do some dancing,
Laugh and grin;
As long as someone knows a song
We'll keep on dancing all night long.
Would you try to win me now,
If our love had never been?
Would you seek me out, and how
Could you still be happy when
You value everything by gain,
Leaving me to love in vain?
I release you, no regrets,
For I know the man you were;
Someday if your dreaming lets
The memories of us even stir,
Conquer them, or they may cost
You more than any deal you've lost.
Behold, the people, some you know,
Look at happy faces glow;
Kids are thinking of the treats
They're going to share tonight;
From the main dish to the sweets,
Promises of sheer delight.
Smell the coffee's rich aroma,
'Nuff to wake you from a coma;
Take a whiff, the smell is free,
Or would you rather take some tea?
Tonight, of course, some have embraced
The spirits with a stronger taste.
There's chicken, turkey, beef and hams
Sweet potatoes, spuds and yams;
Walnuts, almonds by the pound;
Sweetest apple pie around;
If someone's hungry Christmas day,
It's not the farmer's fault, no way.
Sing a song for everybody,
A song of peace and joy!
Let us sing for everybody,
Every little girl and boy.
Merry Christmas, peace on earth,
God bless us every one.
Today we celebrate the birth
Of Christmas good-will to be done.
Let us sing for everybody,
For everyone who makes
The joyful laughter everybody
Wants to hear--for goodness sakes.
Hold your tongue
Until you know
What and where's the surplus;
It's not among
Those down below
Who might not suit your purpose.
Would an insect on a leaf
Judge the rest down in the dust?
Deciding whose life should be brief?
As if you knew what's true and just.
When everything is said and done,
You're looking out for number one.
In the village, people there
Knew where the child had to go
To bring the sheep to shelter where
Lambs wouldn't freeze beneath the snow.
That night the child had not come back;
The air was cold and sky was black.
The sheppards in the early light
Left the village, left to try
To find the child, though under white
Snow he lay, 'neath clear blue sky--
The storm had passed and bitter cold
Would freeze what wandered from the fold.
They followed paths snow covered deep;
Plowed through snow to higher ground,
They found the child fast asleep
And warm with all the sheep around;
And there they witnessed heaven's grace--
A smile upon the child's face.
Through the night the star shone bold
And guided us for it foretold
Of a future that would hold
Our hearts with love and lasting peace.
Clouds may gather in the sky
And all around us shadows lie;
Yet on this day a child will show
Us love and peace we all can know.
A child was born this day to take
Our cares away that we may wake
To dreams come true and days to make
The peace and love come to our lives.
Today we celebrate the gift
Of love and peace as spirits lift
Like Santa in his sleigh as swift
As joy when Christmas day arrives.
Confusion trapped inside his head,
Scrooge feels paralyzed and faint.
Scrooge's insides churn from the dread,
But from his lips comes no complaint.
The ghost is pointing, Scrooge won't look.
Afraid it's worse than last he took.
Look! Before you grow too weak!
Scrooge! "Ghost of the future, speak."
The ghost still points the way ahead
As night dissolves in light;
Instead of dark, Scrooge sees instead
An old familiar sight.
His stomping grounds--the stock exchange,
Scroose listens to someone he knew--
What's that talk? The words sound strange:
"Someone said he caught the flu,
But I don't know, all you can say
Is, he died rich on Christmas day."
Scrooge, poor man, can't figure why
The ghost has brought him where
The conversations crucify
Some dead, forgotten millionaire.
But Scrooge has little time to think,
The spirit takes him where
The streets are dirty, gutters stink
And eyes are burning from the air.
Down to the poorest part of town,
Down with the poorest of the poor,
Beside a junkyard, stands Joe's rundown
Shack filled up with stuff galore.
I washed his clothes.
****I cleaned his rooms.
********I got him ready for the grave.
We come to Joe's,
Old Joe presumes
From the way we all behave,
We brought along some things to show him.
Ain't I right, old man? I know him.
I washed his laundry.
****I cleaned his house--
****That awful house where spirits wail.
********I boxed that onery
********Bloodless louse
********And pounded in the coffin nail
********That sealed the miser six feet under.
********No one mourned him and no wonder.
For a few things such as these,
Who's going to be the wiser?
They won't be missed as long as he's
Buried six feet deep, the miser.
You'd think that if he really wanted
To keep things after he was dead,
He wouldn't let his house go haunted.
He would have had someone instead
Take care of him and keep an eye
On his stuff. He died alone
Like a fish beached high and dry--
His last gasp he took on his own.
Cuff links? This?
A woman's brouch?
Given back to him no doubt
By some Miss
Past all reproach
And who was getting herself out.
No wonder, too, this broach is cheap,
Like the skin-flint six feet deep.
So. I'll give you fifty-five.
I couldn't give you any more
Even if you skinned me live
And stretched my hide across a door.
It's up to you. So who's up next?
You pinched some washing we suspects.
Some sheets, a shirt,
A lamp. Say! Boots.
Aha! A little silverware.
Who's it hurt when someone loots
Some stingy tight old millionaire?
Save the world from all such men.
O.K. Darling. Ten times ten.
More than generous,
But, I fall for
Women with a pretty face.
Don't get careless,
Asking more--
I'll give you less if that's the case.
O.K. Mrs. What you got?
Knowing you, it's something hot.
Cold, cold, rigid, dreadful death,
Set up your alter here.
Lay out bodies still of breath--
Display your works of fear.
Where there's death, death stands supreme--
Before it no one dares to dream.
But among the honored dead,
You cannot turn a hair
Or a feature to your dread-
Ful works of bleak despair.
No matter that the heart is stopped
Or hand may fall when it is dropped.
What matters is the heart was brave,
The heart was also tender, warm.
What matters are the hands that save
Us from the lightning and the storm.
Shadow. Strike! And see good deeds
Spring from wounds and sow their seeds.
When tiny Tim rode on his shoulder,
He filled his father's heart with cheer;
Now our world's a little colder
With Tiny Tim no longer here;
He'll miss him walking home at night;
The fire doesn't burn as bright.
Timothy, your father
Needed you so much.
But this I know,
Your spirit's strong,
His heart will feel your touch.
You were all the world to him,
Touch him with your spirit, Tim.
Before this day,
I chose to pray
To evil's twisted roots.
I'm begging now
I may, somehow
Live to see the blessed fruits
Of taking Christmas to my heart--
From this very day I'll start.
For now the future and the past
Will live in me and guide
My life until I see the last
Evil act I've nourished 's died.
To live a life that's life indeed!
Phantom, spirit, intercede!
Oh, I can feel my senses float--
Inside me something's taken wing.
I hear the long, sweet liquid note
The happy angels sing.
I'm so high I can't believe
What happened to me Christmas Eve.
All right! It's true!
Not something that I dreamed.
Last night I flew
Through time and space it seemed.
Ahead the visions looked so dark
That this old flint began to spark.
The mist is gone, the sun is out,
I feel like a kid again.
I'm so happy, I could shout,
I can't even think of when
I've felt as good as this before--
It's not too late to feel more.
I'm not deranged!
I'm like a baby now.
I'm changed, I'm changed!
Finally I know how
To see the world, and I can make
The day give these old bones a shake.
It's late. I'm late. Must get underway.
These old bones will have to do,
But what's today besides the day
I'm going to start my life anew?
My head's so light that you would think
I must have had too much to drink.
Scrooge figured nothing for the good
Got by without a laugh
From those who never understood,
But prized the golden calf.
Scrooge thought laughs were just as well--
Not as bad as going to hell.
What Scrooge cared most about was Tim--
That tiny Tim would live.
He'd do anything for him--
Someone here on earth to give
Tiny Tim a life so blessed
He grew up strong like all the rest.
The Spirits came to Scrooge no more,
But he quit drinking to be sure;
He changed from what he was before,
No more stingy caricature--
Kept Christmas with the best of those
Who know how Christmas spirit goes.
God bless us on this Christmas Day!
When everything is said and done,
Remember tiny Tim would say,
"God bless us, every single one."