Jethro Tull - A Christmas Song Lyrics






Once in Royal David's City stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby.
You'd do well to remember the things He later said.
When you're stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties,
you'll laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
You're missing the point I'm sure does not need making;
that Christmas spirit is not what you drink.

So how can you laugh when your own mother's hungry
and how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
remember, if you wish, this is just a Christmas song.

Hey, Santa... pass us that bottle, will you?





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Jethro Tull A Christmas Song Comments
  1. C.... C....

    Nothing to do with Christ mass

  2. S.... o....

    Happy day after and Santa pour out the bottle, willya<3

  3. J.... F....

    Maravilla de canción. Jethro Tull, mi grupo favorito..

  4. M.... M....

    🌹🌹🌹❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

  5. D.... M....

    Great stuff also love songs from the wood kind of a winter Christmasy album

  6. j.... G....

    JESUS IS THE REASON. HE WAS BORN TO DIE...John 3:14-21

  7. �.... �....

    Спасибо,какая приятная музыка,чудесно!!!!😀🙋🙌🙋

  8. T.... ....

    Thanks Merry Xmas to you too. "A time for spiritual uplift, oneness with the universe..... and Donovan" (I. Anderson) :-)

  9. t.... ....

    MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! ; )

  10. A.... F....

    Merry Christmas Tull fans.

    A.... F....

    Merry Christmas (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤

    A.... F....

    Merry Christmas💟

    A.... F....

    Buon Natale a tutto il mondo

    A.... F....

    Merry belated Christmas!

    A.... F....

    @Puckish Rogue
    Same to you and Happy New Year.
    I never heard this.
    Why am I getting Christmas songs after Christmas lol.

  11. t.... f....

    What a GREAT album from a GREAT GROUP..found it YEARS ago and to this day..people CAN'T believe they made it.
    Open your EYES AND EARS

  12. K.... L....

    Hey Santa.....Bring us some more Tull, another song!? 🎅

  13. B.... ....

    May God bless you all! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 🎄 (still waitin' on that bottle then mate!)

  14. M.... P....

    Ad ogni vigilia di natale sento questa canzone ormai è una tradizione

  15. S.... ....

    Still listening. Great concert back in the day also. Love it!! 🎅🏼🎄🎁

  16. T.... B....

    Who's listening in 2008?

  17. N.... R....

    Aqualung Claus, nice! I, as a young man was fortunate to see Ian Anderson and his band Jethro Tull a few times. The Passion Play tour , I saw it at The Forum in Los Angeles, was one of the best concerts I ever saw. What a band! What a time for music! Merry Christmas 2019. See you again.

  18. P.... W....

    awesome...shared to Media Factory Show TV on FB https://www.facebook.com/groups/MediaFactoryShowTV/

  19. c.... ....

    Love this song - start of the Tull purple passage Albums /A / B sides all great stuff - excellent - Driving song etc

  20. R.... R....

    Remember the hungry and the homeless. Its Christmas for them too. How lucky we are that we can share so much.

  21. C.... B....

    Fantastic

  22. M.... F....

    one of my favourites Christmas songs (including Robert Fripp's Silent Night)

  23. I.... D....

    'Holiday' maybe why doesn't seem the same. Keep Americanisms out of our Christmas to keep the Christmas spirit.

  24. c.... ....

    Bloody hell, this would really get the party started. Not.

    c.... ....

    Classless moron.

  25. J.... J....

    Two guys had a idea which direction the band should go and Ian won out over Mick, the rest is history...

  26. L.... H....

    I would like to thank Metallic for not releasing any christmas songs!!

    L.... H....

    Reference caught.

    L.... H....

    metal is noise

    L.... H....

    @Coach Chris I agree!! Been a Tull fan since the early 70's!!

  27. K.... K....

    Put your socks on and find some frogs, feed some mice with chocolate logs, queen ants are laying eggs in the Dolly's head and a brick fell from the moon. 🌜🌛🌙🌙🌙🌕🏃🏃🏃🏃🐹🐹🐹🚀🚀🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐨👧🐵🐵🐙🚀🚀🐹🐹🚀🐭🐭🐭🐭🐁🐀🐀🐹🐸🐸🐸🐧🐧🐣🐑🐤🐤🐙🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜👧👵👵🍹📞🐴🐇🐈☕🐻🐱🐅🐅🐢👸👳

  28. p.... j....

    Not heard this b4. .I've been a tull fan since 1970 but this one passed me by ..I bought ring out solstice bells on 7 inch vinyl single in 76 ..thanks for posting this

  29. S.... I....

    Jetro Tull always great .first time hearing this song .merry tullness

  30. M.... ....

    2019, still alive, back again to listen to this classic.

    M.... ....

    first time hearing this 2019

    M.... ....

    ROCK ON!

    M.... ....

    Saw them in 92. It was sweet.

    M.... ....

    It just always makes me feel good, and is a true tradition for me at Christmas. This, Greg Lake and Cheech & Chong!! Merry Christmas!

    M.... ....

    me too...……………..im 70...…...

  31. m.... m....

    Gonna play this Christmas Day bout 2100Hr to my nutty friends... .. Lets hope they remember next Christmas Thankyou Iain ...and a Happy Christmas to you and all Old Memories mate

  32. A.... M....

    Ir´s not just a Christmas song it´s the best Christmas song!

  33. M.... S....

    Another Gem,.........love the building up to the Strings,.............I keep this in mind every Christmas season. Thankyou IAN! There’s a great righteousness to the strings!

    M.... S....

    Love the way he says “Drink”

  34. R.... S....

    A Christmas Song
    Jethro Tull
    Once in Royal David's City stood a lonely cattle shed,
    Where a mother held her baby.
    You'd do well to remember the things He later said.
    When you're stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties,
    You'll just laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
    You're missing the point I'm sure does not need making
    That Christmas spirit is not what you drink.
    So how can you laugh when your own mother's hungry,
    And how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
    And if I just messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
    Remember, if you wish, this is just a Christmas song.

  35. J.... S....

    ! ;-)))! <3

  36. T.... ....

    Heard a crappy remake on the radio this afternoon. Drove me here. This is so rich musically. Puts the new version to shame (If there were still shame in the world of pop music).

  37. O.... L....

    Christianity borrowed the primeval yule-tide. It is allright. But don´t tell us hang the head and feel sorry. Yule-tide (jul) is a fiest of wellfare and wealth, we can afford a fiest in the first part of the winter, and then it shortens the dark winter.

  38. T.... D....

    Such a great song that really reminds us of what the holiday is all about

  39. K.... b....

    you cant find this one on a Jukebox

    K.... b....

    But in YouTube :-)) Merry Christmas!

  40. T.... E....

    .. . ..

  41. H.... B....

    A great Christmas Song from Jethro Tull

    H.... B....

    For me the best Christmas Song ever

  42. H.... B....

    If I played Jethro Tull Christmas album in mid summer it would feel like Christmas that's how great it is brilliant

  43. M.... D....

    NO do not change albums and put this song on a remastered version of - This Was -

  44. N.... D....

    beautiful and sweet song

  45. m.... ....

    "Looks like it's time
    For another Christmas Song!"

  46. 2.... ....

    The only two songs you need for Christmas are this and Solstice Bells. Or the whole Christmas Album...

  47. A.... M....

    Exelant music voice that's why he love them.

  48. l.... b....

    My church (Catholic no less) wants to do a song about stuffing yourself at Xmas for a Christmas show.  I am so angry about this--with all the people starving we don't need this kind of indiscretion.  I am a musician and I'm learning this song in response.

  49. C.... B....

    "You'd do well to remember the things He later said." true for me and I imagine true for all.

  50. j.... G....

    YOUR MISSING THE POINT...JESUS DIED FOR YOUR SINS AND ROSE FROM THE GRAVE=SALVATION, BY GRACE ALONE, THROUGH FAITH ALONE...IN CHRIST ALONE...!!!

  51. M.... ....

    no single song influenced both my wasted and gloriously wonderfull youth asthis one while being in Brighton

  52. B.... D....

    Ian Anderson is a Pantheist, and one of Jethro Tull's earliest concerts was at a Catholic Church....

  53. T.... P....

    Living in the past album 1972

  54. A.... C....

    Only just stumbled upon this! And I absolutely love it!

    Merry Christmas everyone! 🤗🎄

    A.... C....

    Merry Christmas! 💚

  55. h.... ....

    back for another xmas for this classic what upppp

  56. B.... R....

    Pass us that bottle will you?

  57. E.... S....

    sounds like shit

    E.... S....

    don't listen

  58. F.... N....

    Damn man, Jethro Tull is a banda that makes me feel in so many different emotions, congratulations, one of the greatest band of all times.

  59. W.... M....

    Santa is Aqualung in that picture!!!😁

  60. C.... L....

    Every Christmas season I seek this song. The lyrics are beautifully honest. They portray what is wrong about our society.

    C.... L....

    @TheOrangeRoad What country are you referring to?

    C.... L....

    you and me both. merry christmas. go find john denver singing his song, "it's about time." the rare live version. it's here on YT.

    C.... L....

    Right up there with Greg Lake , and
    'I Believe In Father Christmas'.

    C.... L....

    Speak for yourself, I volunteered 3 shifts this holiday season to help outreach programs.
    The Spirit of the Season is expressed through our actions. The choice is yours, never wait for someone else to do it.

    C.... L....

    I could not agree more. Tears to the eyes. Beautiful song.

  61. 9.... ....

    Not in the hall but tupac is in

  62. R.... ....

    Ho, ho, ho!

  63. W.... B....

    WOW SO NICE 🌲🎅🌲🎅🍷

  64. M.... T....

    who is that, Podesta as Aqualung,  lurking about in a Santa suit?

  65. R.... C....

    *******

  66. A.... F....

    I prefer ring out solstice bells compared to this.

  67. M.... D....

    Love this!

  68. J.... j....

    Beats that noddy holder tune for me .happy 2018 earthlings.

  69. l.... d....

    Beautiful Ian I will always be a Tull fan I love your music thanks Ian, rip glenn , this so insightful true in 1970/ true today peace

  70. S.... ....

    Jethro Tull ...Just A Way Life .

  71. t.... J....

    great song, great band, something we all need to think about.

  72. K.... v....

    just great, saw Tull three times in the seventies.. such an outstanding band.

  73. R.... C....

    I sang this to my grandmother on Christmas 1989, and she didn't like it!

    R.... C....

    maybe you can't sing

    R.... C....

    Next time, sing her "Religion" By Public Image Ltd.

    R.... C....

    Then she was missing the point. We are all wired to celebrate when we should revere.

  74. e.... ....

    does anyone else hear The Battle of Evermore at the beginning?

    e.... ....

    Not really, but I do hear a mandolin, so I know what you mean.

  75. R.... M....

    ABBA is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Jethro Tull isn't.  WTF

    R.... M....

    A friend and I were just wondering the same a few days ago. After all Hank Williams and Bob Wills are in the "Rock and Roll" hall of fame but Jethro Tull, Grand Funk, Kansas, ELP, the Doobie Brothers, & numerous others are not?...we decided the "Hall of Fame" is just BS

    R.... M....

    Richard Michael; Exactly! WTF!!!

    R.... M....

    Green Day is in They suck no justice

  76. t.... t....

    Great music but lyrics need re-working. "Take a flying leap" expresses a sentiment that I don't think is consistent with what the baby Jesus would later say, and the phrase "when your own mother's hungry" I suppose is trying to evoke poignancy but envisions a condition surely not applicable to most revelers.

    t.... t....

    No, it's all about the rank hypocrisy of Xmas. After all, having said that Xmas spirit is not what you drink, at the end he asks, "Hey! Santa, pass us that bottle will ya." -You see: We must the Zed back into Zmax. ;-) :-D :-p :-o :-) <3

    t.... t....

    Yes indeed and the lyrics are "classic" Jethro Tull. It's not Jesus but "Jethro" that is telling off the stuffed party goer who won't understand but will laugh when told to take a running jump and the mother is symbolic, not referring to the listener's own mother. Sad really, probably "misses" most Tull lyrics if he doesn't get those...no matter... "the train it won't stop going...

    t.... t....

    @Don Turner Oh please, this is not T.S. Eliot. Anderson's lyrics are never opaque, like, say Dylan's. But they are often clumsy. Like here, a song where he is pleading for the "Christmas spirit," the advice to "take a running jump" seems like an unnecessary dose of ill-will. And, if he is, as must be, speaking to the fat and greasy citizens of our "first world" countries, how does the hungry mothers trope fit in, symbolically?

  77. J.... W....

    it is so predictable Jethro Tull at Christmas but what's wrong with that? Brilliant!

  78. D.... I....

    sad but true...

  79. T.... ....

    Where is the sweet song of BOUREE in this album.?

  80. t.... ....

    @carambacara. 'Where a mother HELD her baby" - not 'Laid'

  81. l.... c....

    sounds like a classic to me

    l.... c....

    The true/real Crimson King...of course, I think a guy named Peter said something like that and look at what that got him.?!

  82. K.... N....

    unforgivable ! Love this! Living in the past! best album ever!

  83. R.... B....

    Hey! Santa! pass us that bottle, will you?

    R.... B....

    Did Santa pass the bottle?

  84. J.... K....

    Hey Santa, pass us that bottle will ya!

  85. k.... ....

    Great string arrangement, and a cool asymmetrical phrase structure. Better than anyone else, perhaps, Tull merged the solidity of rock with the sophistication of prog.

    k.... ....

    So...that's why I like it so much.?!

  86. H.... M....

    love Jethro Tull's Christmas song !!

    H.... M....

    Have you heard Tull's 'Another Christmas Song' from 1989? I actually think that it is a much better song.

  87. J.... M....

    Classic Tull! ... fantastic!

  88. s.... t....

    Wonderful

  89. C.... M....

    Trying to find more ways to like this

  90. K.... ....

    Another Christmas dandy from just a few days ago!  http://jethrotull.com/ring-out-these-bells-video/

  91. a.... ....

    sounds a bit like cello songs nick drake?

  92. j.... l....

    You're missing the point I'm sure does not need making; that Christmas spirit is not what you drink.....

    j.... l....

    And then after all of that, he whispers, "Hey! Santa, pass us that bottle, will ya." :-) :-D :-p ;-) <3

  93. R.... F....

    Best Christmas song ever

    R.... F....

    NO
    the best Christmas song, ever, is Merry Crassmas, by Crass

  94. t.... ....

    "where a mother HELD her baby"

  95. J.... C....

    Ronnie Tull's x mas song on of the best

  96. E.... ....

    It's not that difficult to look up the correct lyrics to this song.

    E.... ....

    Lead by example, please! Earthling, take us to your leader. :-)

  97. C.... N....

    I first heard this November, 1972, on the LIVING IN THE PAST cassette I had recieved, purchased by my mother, and given to me in Newport Hospital, Newport, Rhode Island., shortly after I was admitted for a severe laceration on my writing, right arm.
    Thanks, Mom!

    C.... N....

    CHARLES NOLAN

    Your mom must be AWESOME!!!!

    C.... N....

    But Charles... How is your arm now?

    C.... N....

    And then, Charles went on to be a great writer!

  98. G.... R....

    Best ever ever ever