Sunday, July 22, 2007

Song

Sanctus bell rings
Are you listening?
On the vestments
Gold is glistening.
A beautiful sight
The old Roman rite
Walking in a Ratzinger wonderland.

Gone away is the guitar.
Here to stay is the simar*.
We`ll sing an old song
As we go along.
Walking in a Ratzinger wonderland

We can build an altar ad orientem.
Then go to see Father Brown.
He`ll say “Are you stable?”
We`ll say `Yes man`.
Will you say the Mass
While we`re in town?

Later on
We`ll conspire
As we sit around the fire,
To face unafraid
The plans that we`ve made.
Walking in a Ratzinger wonderland.

* Cassock with cape and double sleeves.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a lovely, clever little song, Father. What is its origin? Let's hope we hear it sung at Panto time this Christmas!

Fr Michael Brown said...

Maybe I should have ackowledged the debt to Felix Bernard (1897-1944) and the lyricist Richard B. Smith (1901-1935). I reproduce the original here:

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
in the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
we're happy tonight,
walking in a winter wonderland.

Gone away is the bluebird,
here to stay is a new bird
He sings a love song,
as we go along,
walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown
He'll say: Are you married?
we'll say: No man,
But you can do the job
when you're in town.

Later on, we'll conspire,
as we dream by the fire
To face unafraid,
the plans that we've made,
walking in a winter wonderland.

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
in the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
we're happy tonight,
walking in a winter wonderland.

Gone away is the bluebird,
here to stay is a new bird
He sings a love song,
as we go along,
walking in a winter wonderland.


In the meadow we can build a snowman,
and pretend that he's a circus clown
We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman,
until the alligators knock him down.

When it snows, ain't it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling
We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way,
walking in a winter wonderland.

Walking in a winter wonderland,
walking in a winter wonderland.

Anonymous said...

Father, I knew the song was a parody of a popular panto song, but I meant what was the origin of the parody? Is this your own? It's very good!

Fr Michael Brown said...

Glad you liked it Sweep. Yes it`s my work but I wasn`t sure whether to post it or not. I thought it might still need more work but inspiration didn`t come.