This page is provided so that you can hear the tunes of items which we use in church. Mostly they are written by the vicar. Please note that they are copyright - we are very happy to give permission to you to use them, but we would like to hear about it. Please include any use on your Christian Copyright Licence returns.
Down this page:
- the words,
- the story,
- the sheet music,
- media player.
Come, see a little baby
Come, see a little baby
Come, see a little baby
who's lying in the hay,
in a manger, in a stable;
in a land so far away.
Why should we think of Bethlehem,
hear words the prophets say?
Could Jesus be real to us today?
Come, see a little baby,
newborn this very night,
where his mother gently lays him,
wrapped in cloths and bound so tight.
Why should we pay attention to
this baby, small and slight?
Could Jesus turn darkness into light?
Come, see a little baby
as shepherds first draw near,
when the angels come to tell them,
give them news they long to hear.
Why should we face the great unknown,
these questions in our ear?
Could Jesus give peace instead of fear?
Come, see a little baby
who's born for you and me:
like the wise men, make a journey,
make a great discovery.
Why should we interrupt our lives,
why should we go and see?
Will Jesus be news to set us free?
Words and music copyright © John Hartley 2006.
Story behind the song
I wrote this song for the beginning of a Christmas Carol Service. The traditional introduction to the service of nine lessons and carols invites us to journey to Bethlehem in heart and mind to see this thing which has happened, and I wanted to answer the question "but why do I think people should make this journey? It must be because the little baby of long ago and far away, visited by obscure people from a bygone age, is relevant to us in some way as well. Which indeed he is.
I'm very grateful to members of Christian Songwriting Organisation who have made a number of positive suggestions about the words and tune of this song: the versions on this page are the 3rd revision. And I'm also very grateful to Michael Lehr for arranging the music in a rather more imaginative way than I had it: so the midi-file is his arrangement, but the sheet music is still my piano-keyboard version.
John Hartley
Windows Media Player. When you click the left-hand "play" button your computer should have started to play the tune. If it didn't, you might be able to get the tune by clicking here, or by right-clicking the link, choosing "save target as", saving it onto your computer, and then opening it with a music-playing program.
Please remember that a midi file of a tune isn't supposed to be a state-of-the-art musical arrangement - it is only supposed to give a basic idea of how the tune goes. Any reasonable organist / keyboard player / music group could make it sound far better.