[Music & Words: Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva, Franz Xaver Gruber]

IN AN OLD CITY BAR
THAT IS NEVER TOO FAR
FROM THE PLACES THAT GATHER
THE DREAMS THAT HAVE BEEN

IN THE SAFETY OF NIGHT
WITH IT'S OLD NEON LIGHT
IT BECKONS TO STRANGERS
AND THEY ALWAYS COME IN

AND THE SNOW IT WAS FALLING
THE NEON WAS CALLING
THE MUSIC WAS LOW
AND THE NIGHT CHRISTMAS EVE

AND HERE WAS THE DANGER
THAT EVEN WITH STRANGERS
INSIDE OF THIS NIGHT
IT WAS EASIER TO BELIEVE

FOR IT WAS INTO THIS BAR
THAT I HAPPENED TO WANDER
TO STARE INTO A GLASS
AND MY UNIVERSE PONDER

SO I WALKED UP TO THE COUNTER
SHOOK THE SNOW OFF MY COAT
THEN I ORDERED A WHISKEY
THAT I USED LIKE A MOAT

BUT AN OLD MAN SOON JOINED ME
AND ASKED IF I KNEW THE TIME
ONE WORD LED TO ANOTHER
AND SOMEHOW I DIDN'T MIND

THEN HE OFFERED A DRINK
FROM A BOTTLE 'NEATH HIS COAT
AND HE SMILED A LITTLE SMILE
AS IT TRICKLED DOWN MY THROAT

AND I FELT MYSELF RELAXING
HERE AMONG THE GHOSTS THAT FAILED
THEN THE OLD MAN TOPPED MY GLASS OFF
AND BEGAN THIS LITTLE TALE

IN THE MOMENTS OF OUR LIVES
BOTH THE JOYOUS AND THE TRAGIC
IF THE TRUTH IS TO BE TOLD
WE ARE ALL PURSUING MAGIC

AND THE MAGIC THAT WE SEEK
AS WE'RE SURE YOU HAVE DISCOVERED
CAN BE FOUND IN CERTAIN PLACES
FAR MORE EASILY THAN OTHERS

IN THE SAND BENEATH THE SPHINX
IN THE DREAMS OF CANDLELIGHT
BUT THE SUREST PLACE OF ALL
IS IN THE FORGIVING WORLD OF NIGHT

AND OF ALL THE NIGHTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
THAT COME AND GENTLY LEAVE
NONE HOLD THE DREAM OF MAGIC
LIKE THE EVENING, CHRISTMAS EVE

AND SO IT'S ON THIS NIGHT
WITH IT'S PROMISE DEEP WITHIN
AS THE SNOW NOW STARTS TO FALL
OUR STORY DOES BEGIN

An angel came down
One night to the earth
A mission from God
To find out the worth

Of everything that
His children had done
Since that winter night
The birth of His son

And then a sound filled the night
In the cold winter air
And in the midst of his flight
It was holding him there
And as he looked toward the earth
For the source of this sound
On that cold winter night
It was pulling him down

To bring something back
This angel was told
That no one could touch
But angels could hold

So on that night
When the sky had cleared
Among all the stars
An angel appeared

And then a sound filled the night
In the cold winter air
And in the midst of his flight
It was holding him there
And as he looked towards the earth
For the source of this sound
On that cold winter night
It was pulling him down

And then a sound filled the night
In the cold winter air
And in the midst of his flight
It was holding him there
And as he looked towards the earth
For the source of this sound
On that cold winter night
It was pulling him down