Little Drummer Boy/Adoration

No matter your style, The Little Drummer Boy is one of the most well known and loved songs of the Christmas season. I remember watching the claymation video every year as a child. Most people are very familiar with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's version of this song. It gets a ton of radio airplay around Christmas time. I like that version, but I like more modern renditions of it too.

At the bottom of this post you'll also find a song by The Newsboys called Adoration. It's basically the same story as The Little Drummer Boy. Most people don't really think about it, mainly due to the fact it was released on a worship album containing other songs, but this is a powerful and beautiful Christmas song. Check it out below the Little Drummer Boy lyrics.

I found this great video featuring the Whiteheart version of the song. This video is not by Whiteheart, but the message in it is beautiful.

Whiteheart Version

 

At the request of a friend, I've also included this version by Bing Crosby and David Bowie. :)

Bing Crosby/David Bowie Version

 

The Little Drummer Boy - Traditional Lyrics

 Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum

A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, 

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

 

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

 

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

 

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

 

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.

 



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Adoration

This reminds me of a passage in Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. As summarized by Leigh Nash of the band Sixpense None The Richer when telling David Letterman about the origin of the band's name:

It comes from a book by C. S. Lewis called Mere Christianity. A little boy asks his father if he can get a sixpence—a very small amount of English currency—to go and get a gift for his father. The father gladly accepts the gift and he's really happy with it, but he also realizes that he's not any richer for the transaction. C.S. Lewis was comparing that to his belief that God has given him, and us, the gifts that we possess, and to serve Him the way we should, we should do it humbly—realizing how we got the gifts in the first place.



Adoration. What more can we give the One who owns it all anyway?

Adoration - The Newsboys
I'm here with the others
Who saw the heavens testify
Now I hang back in the shadows
I want to come close
I want to know

She sees me shivering here
She smiles and with a nod
I walk through the mud and straw
To the newborn Son of God

Come, let us adore Him
He has come down to this barren land
Where we live
And all I have to give Him
Is adoration

He raises a wrinkled hand
Through the dust and the flies
Wrapped in rags like we are

And with barely open eyes
He takes my finger
And He won't let go
And He won't let go

It's nothing like I knew before
And it's all I need to know

Come, let us adore Him
He has come down to the world we live in
And all I have to give Him
Is adoration

God is with us here
Our Immanuel

God is with us here
Our Immanuel
 
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him

Jesus, our Immanuel
Is with us here and He won't let go

Come, let us adore Him
He has come down to the world we live in
And all I have to give Him
Is adoration

O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him