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Star of Bethlehem Lyrics
Ain't it hard when you wake up in the morning
and you find out that those other days are gone?
All you have is memories of happiness
lingering on
All your dreams and your lovers won't protect you
they're only passing through you in the end
they'll leave you stripped of all that they can get to
and wait for you to come back again
Yet still a light is shining
from that lamp on down the hall
maybe a star of Bethlehem
wasn't a star at all
and you find out that those other days are gone?
All you have is memories of happiness
lingering on
they're only passing through you in the end
they'll leave you stripped of all that they can get to
and wait for you to come back again
from that lamp on down the hall
maybe a star of Bethlehem
wasn't a star at all
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i always felt this song is dealing with the fact that we're all alone in this world no matter how you slice it and that the only one you can depend on is yourself.that you should realize that this is all there is and so you better make the most of it doing what makes you happy and not depend on the after life or someone else.
@tennisluvr71 I agree to an extent. Your statement that the song addresses, and “means”, that the only thing upon which you can depend in this world is yourself is true, but the song is more involved than that, I believe so anyway…
@tennisluvr71 I agree to an extent. Your statement that the song addresses, and “means”, that the only thing upon which you can depend in this world is yourself is true, but the song is more involved than that, I believe so anyway…
Neil’s narrator here is having what some might call a “dark Night of the soul”, he’s at the end of a relationship - yet ANOTHER one, if the narrator’s really “reliable” - and it’s possibly a relationship that he’d had a lot of hopes/dreams tied up in, but now it’s over, and Neil’s feeling the strain. So, he’s facing...
Neil’s narrator here is having what some might call a “dark Night of the soul”, he’s at the end of a relationship - yet ANOTHER one, if the narrator’s really “reliable” - and it’s possibly a relationship that he’d had a lot of hopes/dreams tied up in, but now it’s over, and Neil’s feeling the strain. So, he’s facing some HARD truths, some uncomfortable realities… and as he thinks more and more deeply, and those “dark” truths about life & love create changes in his mind, SCARY changes, ones that make him feel as if he will never truly “connect” with another person in this world. But then, those realities eventually come around to NEW realizations, makes me think of Springsteen’s ‘Two Hearts’:
“Once I spent my time playing tough guy scenes But I was living in a world of childish dreams. Someday these childish dreams must end, To become a man and grow up To DREAM AGAIN”
We humans are taught to “put away childish things”, but for me, as well as many others I’m sure, when we first hear this in life, it’s like, “oh, I get it, the fun is over”. And it can seem Sometimes as if The entire world has lost its sense of humor, and that, depending on yr personality, can be a devastating discovery…and it can seem like “Life”, at least the GOOD part, is gone forever…but it’s not!
The final verse, Neil brings it home…but, the “lamp on down the hall” is not the “new” SoB. No, Neil has discovered, happily, that whatever the hell the Star Of Bethlehem USED TO BE, or used to “mean”, the NEW understanding within Neil shows the Star of Bethlehem to be something you can NEVER lose…
In fact it’s entirely Possible that what Neil calls the “Star of Bethlehem” also goes by the phrase/name The Will To Love…
That’s right, I said it.
I’m still working this one out but I’m of the mind, lately, that when the going gets tough, and we are down on ourselves, facing some hard truths, when we feel like we have nothing to hold onto, nothing to look forward to, when i’m busted flat in Baton Rouge, and ol’ Bobbie McGee has already slipped away, something will spark your interest again If you can just hold on and try to have faith. Because it’s not “about” anybody else, it’s about me. And “maybe the Star of Bethlehem wasn’t a star at all” means the answer is really within us, meaning you’ll eventually move on,and change - and embrace change - like you need to. You just need to let it happen, FEEL it...It will pass if we let it.
Extra stanza (from live versions) that goes between the second and third stanzas:
You might wonder, "Who can I turn to?" On this cold and chilly night of gloom the answer to that question is nowhere in this room
Lyrics blocked by the publisher. That is so stupid. As if someone couldn't listen to the song and write down the lyrics. All it blocks is discussion of the song.