Pray for peace, people everywhere…The Story behind the song! The familiar Christmas song, Do You Hear What I Hear? was not written centuries ago, nor was it written in Europe, but in the early 1960’s, right here in the United States.

Some will remember that pivotal time in U.S. history when the threat of nuclear war was at its height and the Cuban Missile Crisis was all that was being talked about.

Americans were afraid, very afraid, and rightly so. Noel Regney and his wife, Gloria Shayne, were two of those that were terrified.

Noel had experienced enough war to last him more than a lifetime. After studying at Strasbourg Conservatory and the Conservatoire National de Paris, he found himself in the middle of WWII and France was overcome by Hitler’s troops. Against his will, he was drafted into the German army.

Regney despised the Nazis, who had all but destroyed his beloved homeland and while still in the German army, he became a member of the French underground. 

Basically a spy, he remained in German uniform, collecting information and passing it on to the French Resistance fighters, warning them of planned German attacks.

Noel never would be able to forget one terrifying mission when he was to lead a group of German soldiers into a trap so that the French fighters could overtake them. Noel Regney was shot, but, of course he survived and the French only suffered minor injuries.

Memories didn’t heal as easily and Noel could still see the enemy soldiers dying all around him, forever embedded in his mind. Supposedly, he was wounded purposely by the French in order to protect him from being found out by the Germans.

Shortly thereafter, Regney deserted the German army and went underground with his fellow Frenchmen for the duration of the war. “Only then did I feel free, ” he once said.

After the war, he worked for a number of years as the musical director of the Indochinese Service of Radio France and as music director at Lido, a popular nightclub in Paris.

He moved to Manhattan in 1952 where he met Gloria. She was an accomplished pianist and they married a month later! Noel composed music for many early TV shows and wrote commercial jingles. He wasn’t without the serious compositions though. In 1971, he composed Slovenly Peter, based on an old German folktale. Then, in 1976, his five-part cantata, I Believe in Life, was completed.

Regney was the composer, Shayne the lyricist and together they had several successful hits including Dominique. But their most famous work was the beloved Christmas Carol, which was in reality a prayer for peace.

In 1962, at the peak of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Noel walked down the streets of New York City, saw babies being pushed in strollers by their mothers and wondered if they would even have a future at all.

“I am amazed that people can think they know the song and not know it was a prayer for peace.” Noel Regney

In this case, Noel actually wrote the words and Gloria put the music to the song. They didn’t mean for it to be a Christmas Carol, but a hymn to peace. It was a prayer, echoed by millions of Americans, never knowing from one day to the next if the crisis between Russia and the U.S. would escalate to the unthinkable.

Neither Noel or Gloria could actually perform the song because of the emotions at the time. “Our little song broke us up. You must realize there was a threat of nuclear war at the time.”

Said the night wind to the little lamb,
do you see what I see
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
do you see what I see
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite

 

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
do you hear what I hear
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
do you hear what I hear
A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

 

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
do you know what I know
In your palace warm, mighty king,
do you know what I know
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Let us bring Him silver and gold

 

Said the king to the people everywhere,
listen to what I say
Pray for peace, people everywhere!
listen to what I say
The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

 

Today, we are faced with similar threats all around the world. Many fellow believers are giving their lives for the cause of Christ, others are being forced from their homelands all because of their belief in the God of the Old and New Testaments.

Just because it is Christmas time doesn’t mean that everyone is free. Not all Christians will be able to worship the King in freedom and liberty as we are fortunate to do. We need to remember our brothers and sisters around the world and lift them up in prayer as we reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. We also must pray for our own country that we can hold on to our liberties and be able to freely worship and share the Gospel in these last days.  He came for all of us and He is coming back again for all who believe in Him. Let us not forget to be thankful for what we have and what we know.

And then…

“Pray for peace, people everywhere.”

Enjoy Bing Crosby’s rendition of this song which he recorded in 1963, just a year after it was written. 

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