we actually sang this in church yesterday. at first i thought it was going to be hokey (the whole congregation singing ‘par rum pum pum pum’ and all). but it was surprizingly beautiful — and i got all choked up at this verse:
Little baby
Pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too
Pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give our King
Pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you
Pa rum pum pum pum
On my drum
suddenly, i wasn’t singing a christmas carol about some fictional kid. i was singing in first-person, about me, and about this amazing god willing to be born into my world.
way cool.
The next verse always gets me:
Mary nodded, pa rum pa pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pa pum pum
I played my drum for him, pa rum pa pum pum
I played my best for him, pa rum pa pum pum
Rum pa pum pum, rum pa pum pum
Then he smiled at me, pa rum pa pum pum
Me and my drum
No matter what I have, even its just the ability to play a little drum, if I play it for Jesus, he smiles at me
Yay – well said.
…and it debunks the idea from the Christian song-writing purists who say that “I” shouldn’t feature in a Christian song, and that it should be all about God/Jesus.
I had the very same experience yesterday morning! What a great song of reflection.
I feel the same way! The first time I heard that we were going to sing the song, I was like…uh, okay…but then, like you, saw the lyrics and love the message.
Neat