NOEL: CHRISTMAS EVE, 1913 Music & Lyrics by Bridges and Holdridge Sung by John Denver on A Christmas Together (1979) A frosty Christmas eve, when the stars where shining I traveled forth alone, where westward falls the hill And for many, many a village, in the darkness of the valley Distant music reached me, peals of bells were ringing. Then spread my thoughts to olden times, to that first of Christmases When shepherds who were watching, heard music in the fields And they sat there and they marveled, and they knew they could not tell Whether it were angels, or the bright stars a-singing But to me heard a far, it was starry music The singing of the angels, the comfort of our lord Words of old that come a traveling, by the riches of the times And I softly listened, as i stood upon the hill And I softly listened, as i stood upon the hill