DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?

Music and Text: Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker
Arrangement; Michael Davis

The husband-and-wife songwriting team of Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne enjoyed success with a string of hits written for stars such as Andy Williams, Bobby Vinton, and Perry Como. In their collaborations, Regney usually wrote the music to Shayne’s lyrics. But in 1962, as the Cuban Missile Crisis reached a precarious climax and fear was as universal as it was palpable, Regney saw two mothers pushing their babies in strollers. “The little angels were looking at each other and smiling,” he recalled. “All of a sudden, my mood was extraordinary.” His heart now filled with poetry, Regney wrote the hopeful, impressionistic lyrics for “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and Shayne set it to music. With recordings by the Harry Simeone Chorale and Bing Crosby, it became an immediate hit, a widespread appeal for peace in troubled times.

Said the night-wind to the little lamb,Do you see what I see?Way up in the sky, little lamb.Do you see what I see?A star, a star, dancing in the night,With a tail as big as a kite.With a tail as big as a kite.

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,Do you hear what I hear?Ringing in the sky, shepherd boy.Do you hear what I hear?A song, a song, high above the trees,With a voice as big as the sea.With a voice as big as the sea.

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,Do you know what I know?In your palace warm, mighty king.Do you know what I know?A child, a child, shivers in the cold;Let us bring Him silver and gold.Let us bring Him silver and gold.

Said the king to the people ev’rywhere,Listen to what I say!Pray for peace, people ev’rywhere.Listen to what I say!The child, the child, sleeping in the night;He will bring us goodness and light.He will bring us goodness and light!