Christmas Days of Long Ago

By Frank Carleton Nelson

I'd love to take a journey back, through time and feel the joy
That oft was mine in other years, when I was just a boy.
I'd love to know the pleasures now that were mine to know
The thrills that came on Christmas Day, in years of long ago.

The world today may look the same, as far as looks may go,
The trees the same as trees looked then, and just the same the snow.
The songs we sing are just the same, and recitations, too,
In fact we're doing many things the way we used to do.

The roads are paved and better now than in the days of yore,
A thousand comforts now are ours we never knew before.
The sights are fine on Christmas Day, I really must admit,
And yet, somehow it seems to me, there's something wrong with it.

I'd love to ride the old bob-sled, and hear the horses neigh,
And hear the jingle of the bells that seemed to make the day.
I'd love to journey back once more and live it o'er again;
I'd love to see a Christmas now just like I saw it then.

But styles have changed and ways have changed, and time has taken toll,
Yet mem'ries sweet of other days are written on the soul.
And while today I live them o'er with children by the tree,
I feel a longing in my heart for the loss that used to be.