Trans-Siberian Orchestra - What child is this

What Child Is This, Trans-Siberian Orchestra From the 2004 album: The Lost Christmas Eve Words: Paul O'Neill Music: Paul O'Neill and Robert Kinkel Tempo: Slowly BPM: 56 Key: Dm Timing: 6/8 [Narration] N.C. The old man stood there thinking While staring in that old toy shop With it's carousel still turning round In front of a music box clock For what good's a clock without a chime A useless thing that just keeps time Recording moments that come and leave But this clock's chimes struck midnight Upon a lost christmas eve And when the final chime had spoken And the twelfth bell had finally rung The indecision in the father was broken He now knew what had to be done So he got into a yellow cab And prayed that it might lead Through all this snow and streetlight glow To a past he might retrieve When the taxi dropped him off At the boarding house hotel It was a rundown building With a musty, rundown smell And he asked for his son From the hotel's night desk clerk Who said his son was not there He was not back from work When the father said that was impossible The clerk replied, "I'm not here to debate But he works at the hospital, just down the block If you want you can sit here and wait But he never returns till real late" Then the father tried asking another question But the clerk went back to watching his tv Which was also playing, "how the grinch stole christmas" And the father mused, "this movie has no sympathy, Well, at least not when it comes down to me" Once outside he saw the hospital's entrance And went to information by the front door Who confirmed that his son had a job there And worked up on the seventh floor So he took the elevator up to that floor Which was marked "maternity" And the man knew in his heart that this was a mistake For his son working here could not be But the nurse on duty reconfirmed that he did And since her rounds were about to begin If he would like to follow her She would gladly take the father to him So he followed her to a large dark room That to him seemed unusually empty Except for several incubators glowing on the right Each with a trembling baby These infants were all extremely frail And obviously in incredible pain And this sight cut deep into that father's soul And he asked the nurse, please, to explain "these children were born to mothers Who were addicted to crack cocaine And these children are born in complete withdrawal For that drug is still deep in their veins We can give them no other drugs to ease their withdrawals Since they are born premature and quite frail And any form of pain killer Could easily cause their small hearts to fail" "and what does my son do here?" The father asked, "he is not a patient, i assume" The nurse did not say a single word But nodded to the far left corner of the room And there the father saw his son Who looked like himself when he was a younger man Rocking back and forth in a rocking chair A trembling infant held in his hands And in his arms the child did not cry But slept to silent lullabies And his son rocked that newborn back and forth Until finally, a dream was caught But still at his rocking, his son faithfully kept Till that poor child's trembling had also, finally, left Then the nurse whispered softly Into the father's ear Something that a blind man could see But the father needed to hear Whispered to him in this room Filled with mankind's misbegotten Something that the father had known once But somehow had forgotten She said, "it is this way with each of us We all need to be held, at least twice Once upon the day that we are born And once more when we leave this life Your son has been coming to this place Since as long as I've been working here He's never missed a single day In nearly twenty years He always arrives promptly on time But a time card he does not keep For he never leaves this maternity room Until every last child is asleep" Then the nurse noticed the father Trying to choke back the things he now felt So mentioning she had to continue her rounds She quietly excused herself So he was now alone in the darkness Between the past and future caught Not knowing what to do As his mind flooded with so many thoughts Some beauty comes too early While it's moment never waits And some beauty is always there But never seen, till it's too late Look! There is a moment It has just slipped away And so we lose our lives In such ordinary ways Where do we get our dreams from? Where do we get our faith? Is it something that we are born with Or is it something for which we must wait? The mist of things we once believed The childhood truths for which we grieve And in our lives could we have missed Those that in the dark, the angels kiss [Intro] Dm C/D Dm C/D [Verse] 1 [Chorus] [Verse] 2 [Chorus] [Verse] 3 [Verse] 4 [Bridge] [Verse] 3