BABY OF BETHLEHEM (SINGING IN THE LAND)
Baby of Bethlehem (Singing in the Land)
Kelli O'Hara joins The Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra to perform "Baby of Bethlehem".
ABOUT 'BABY OF BETHLEHEM (Singing in the Land)'
Music and Text: African-American Spiritual
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
“Baby of Bethlehem” (also known as “Singing in the Land”) is an African-American spiritual that was also included in the same 1953 volume of Ruth Crawford Seeger’s American Folk Songs for Christmas, along with “Oh, Watch the Stars” and the opening processional “Star in the East.”
Mack Wilberg’s arrangement retains the carol’s innate innocence and raw simplicity, placing those qualities at the forefront of this performance.
LISTEN TO THE FULL SONG
LYRICS
Singing in the land,
Singing in the land,
Singing in the land,
I’m a long ways from home.
Singing in the land,
Singing in the land,
Baby of Bethlehem,
Baby of Bethlehem.
O sister, don’t you want to go to heaven?
O sister, don’t you want to go to heaven?
O sister, don’t you want to go to heaven?
Baby of Bethlehem,
Baby of Bethlehem.
Praying in the land,
Praying in the land,
Praying in the land,
I’m a long ways from home.
Praying in the land,
Praying in the land,
Baby of Bethlehem,
Baby of Bethlehem.
CONT...
O brother, don’t you want to go to heaven?
O brother, don’t you want to go to heaven?
O brother, don’t you want to go to heaven?
Baby of Bethlehem,
Baby of Bethlehem.
O sister, don’t you want to go to heaven?
O brother, don’t you want to go to heaven?
O children, don’t you want to go to heaven?
Baby of Bethlehem,
Baby of Bethlehem.
Bethlehem.