On this the second Tuesday in Advent, I bring you an unusual Christmas song. The truth is, as I prayed and meditated on the words, Stop and Look… this song came rushing into my head. It’s the “other” Crosby, not Bing… but the one who sang with Stills and Nash. Actually this song is pre Crosby and the band is called Buffalo Springfield. “There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear. “ that is how the song begins, but look closely at the chorus.
“I think its time we stop children what’s that sound. Everybody look what’s going down.”
That is what the angel says to the shepherds that first Christmas night. Stop, Behold. Listen to the sounds of the heavenly choir… because there is something going down tonight. (well maybe I took some liberties with the angel’s lines…. But you get the point.)
Look at the song from the 60s. There is so much here that rings true today. People with guns, battle lines being drawn… but we remember the angel and the message of Christmas. Something “went down” that first Christmas night. God came to be with us… and the world was never the same.
For What Its Worth
There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
It’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It’s s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Stop, hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Stop, now, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Stop, children, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Songwriters: Stephen Stills For What It Is Worth lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc
Grace and Peace at Advent
Myra