Everyone was a big fan of the children's carol book a few days ago so we thought we'd mention one of the stars of children's Christmas songs. Sydney Carter is probably most famous for three of his songs, "When I Needed A Neighbour", "One More Step Along The World I Go", and of course "Lord Of The Dance". But it's his Christmas output that we feature today.
Carter was born in 1915, grew up in Horsham and studied at Oxford, was a conscientious objector driving ambulances in WWW2, and wrote poetry and songs for musicals and revues, including with Donald Swann (of Flanders and Swann).
"Every star shall sing a carol" is beautiful and wistful and gets close to the "aliens know who Jesus is" meme.
St Malachy's Primary School Choir, singing at the Albert Dock, Liverpool, 2011
And then, like many of Carter's other socially aware hymns and poems, we have "Standing in the rain, knocking on the window on a Christmas Day"
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