Barcarola (You Must Be a Christmas Tree) Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Spatula2 

Cover art for Barcarola (You Must Be a Christmas Tree) lyrics by Sufjan Stevens

I can't believe no one has commented yet on how beautiful this song is. One of his best Christmas song IMO.

very minor corrections on the lyrics. All and all great job.

Oh, no one else is happily, recklessly Asking for more than what they may need I can't say what I need

Oh, temper what you say if you've nothing nice to say So my grandmother says to me With her heart on her sleeve

So, sadly I left the door open And I left the dog out in the snow Oh where did she go?

Oh, father friend, will you punish me, punish me With a look of content, with a look of content I can't recall

Oh, I know you did right by me, right by me Wagging your hands when you found me With the bag of your things

Please, please don’t be a stranger here A stranger who takes from the world Who takes from the world

You, you must be a Christmas tree, a Christmas tree You light up the room, oh, you light up the room Oh, you light up the room

Please, solemnly you kissed me You tickled me in front of your mother, who looked away With her hands on her face

Don't run away my friend You won't be back again, you said you needed me But I know that you needed yourself to be cleaned of me

Don't run away my friend, you won't be back again You said you needed me But I know that you needed yourself to be cleaned of me

Don't run away my friend, you won't be back again You ran your hands through my hair, through the snow Where the frost-blooded flows with the terrible ghost

Don't run away my friend, you won't be back again You said you needed me But I know

Thank you very much! I took quite some time sitting here, listening to the song and typing up the lyrics as best I could, haha. I added your corrections. It truly is one of his best Christmas songs. It's a surprise to me that most don't even have this volume from Songs for Christmas.

i'm pretty sure it's "with a look of contempt" hence, the punishment

You're right. I changed it