One Winters Night

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[Verse 1]
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I come to you now with ink and quill to commit my soul by my own free will
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For if I don't care to climb that hill and tell my tale, nobody will
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one winter's night, long ago

[Verse 2]
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They were wide awake in the carriage house and I snuck to the window like a stable mouse
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Now I can't forget and my hair's gone white, the things I saw in the flickering light
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one winter's night, long ago

[Verse 3]
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They were all in the kitchen and the drink did flow, there was Bing and Dean on the radio
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The wind did howl, they will send below, they were safe and sound from the ice and snow
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[Verse 4]
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And on the windowsill by the candle's glow I could see an old cat calico
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A bowl of cloves and pistachios, a bow on a thistle and some mistletoe
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one winter's night, long ago

[Verse 5]
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Once I surveyed the scene I made my haste, up to the chimney without a trace
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For the sand runs fast at a rabbit's pace and it's Christmas Eve, no time to waste
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[Verse 6]
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I crept past the kitchen on the tip of my toes, straight to the parlor where the pine tree glows
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A string of socks lined up in rows, I was followed by that old cat calico
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one winter's night, long ago

[Verse 7]
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There in the house of the familyhood, they had nine little babes and they'd all been good
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I was carrying more than an old man should, nine little kittens made out of wood
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[Verse 8]
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As I knelt beneath that Christmas tree and spread the gifts out quietly
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All at once so suddenly I found myself with company
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one winter's night, long ago

[Verse 9]
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His presence shocked and bothered me for I must work in secrecy
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But there he was, all shadowy, his feet just cloaked in mystery
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His voice was low and pillowy, as he offered his apology
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Do not fear he said to me, and pardon my proximity
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My name is Arthur Hood he said but you can call me Art instead
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I built the floor upon which we tread and I built the roof up over head
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And much like you, I am seldom seen, rarely want to intervene
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I fix things up and I keep things clean, catching leaks and mending screens
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And I always felt that you and I were of one fate to occupy
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Pleased to meet you eye-to-eye and he wished me well and he said goodbye
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one winter's night, long ago

[Verse 10]
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It was time to go for the bells did ring, I had a list of lists about a thousand things
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That's one song I shall not sing, for the eye must leave what the silence brings
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one winter's night, long ago

[Outro]
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I was heading for the chimney just as slow as I could when I saw on the mantle carved into the 
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wood
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Six little words that would shiver me good: "In loving memory of Arthur Hood"
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one winter's night, long ago
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In loving memory of Arthur Hood
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one winter's night, long ago
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one winter's night, long ago