Dec 2, 2025

I Come From A Planet A Long Way From Here


I found this little guy at the bottom of a tote when I was packing up Christmas decorations last year.  It's a keychain that my grandmother gave me when I was a teenager.  Grandma could be a handful, but she was a generous woman with a good heart.  She knew that I liked aliens, so when she found something with an alien head, she's get it and put it away for me to give to me for Christmas, or my birthday, or just because she thought that I'd like it.

This also reminded me of one of my favorite Christmas songs.  It's not one that I hear on the radio too often, but it's has an ethereal and soothing sound that stops me in my tracks every time I hear it.  It was released by Chris de Burgh in 1975.  The singer/songwriter is probably best known for The Lady In Red and Don't Pay The Ferryman, but I think this is the song of his that I like the best.
A spaceman came traveling on his ship from afar
Twas light years of time since his mission did start
And over a village he halted his craft
And it hung in the sky like a star, just like a star

He followed a light and came down to a shed
Where a mother and child were lying there on a bed
A bright light of silver shone round his head
And he had the face of an angel, and they were afraid

Then the stranger spoke, he said "Do not fear
I come from a planet a long way from here
And I bring a message for mankind to hear,"
And suddenly the sweetest music filled the air

And it went
La la la la la la la la la la la
Peace and goodwill to all men, and love for the child

This lovely music went trembling through the ground
And many were wakened on hearing that sound
And travelers on the road, the village they found
By the light of that ship in the sky, which shone all round

And just before dawn at the paling of the sky
The stranger returned and said "Now I must fly
When two thousand years of your time has gone by
This song will begin once again, to a baby's cry"

And it was
La la la la la la la la la la la
Peace and goodwill to all men, and love for the child

Oh, the whole world is waiting
Waiting to hear the song again
There are thousands standing on the edge of the world
And a star is moving somewhere