Christmas Songs - First Christmas Lyrics
(Stan Rogers, 1979)This day a year ago, he was rolling in the snowWith a younger brother in his father's yardChristmas break, a time for touching home,The heart of all he'd knownAnd leaving was so hardThree thousand miles away,Now he's working Christmas DayMaking double time for the minding of the storeWell he always said, he'd make it on his ownHe's spending Christmas Eve aloneFirst Christmas away from homeShe's standing by the train station,Pan-handling for changeFour more dollars buys a decent meal and a roomLooks like the Sally Ann place after all,In a crowded sleeping hallThat echoes like a tombBut it's warm and clean and free,And there are worse places to beAt least it means no beating from her DadAnd if she cries because it's Christmas DayShe hopes that it won't showFirst Christmas away from homeIn the apartment stands a tree,And it looks so small and bareNot like it was meant to be,Golden angel on the topIt's not that same old silver star,You wanted for your ownFirst Christmas away from homeIn the morning, they get prayers,Then it's crafts and tea downstairsThen another meal back in his little roomHoping maybe that "the boys"Will think to phone before the day is goneWell, it's best they do it soonWhen the "old girl" passed away,He fell apart more every dayEach had always kept the other pretty wellBut the kids all said the nursing home was bestCause he couldn't live aloneFirst Christmas away from homeIn the common room they've got the biggest treeAnd it's huge and cold and lifelessNot like it ought to be,And the lit-up flashing Santa Claus on topIt's not that same old silver star,You once made for your ownFirst Christmas away from home