I have a little manger scene I unpack every year, I put it on the mantle way up high
Safe from puppy dogs, little hands and wrestling adolescents,
That might break a piece and make me want to cry
I've had that little manger scene of china and of glaze,
Since I was just a kid of 4 or 5
For years and years I looked at it believing every line,
'Cause it made the ancient story come alive
It makes me sentimental,
Though I know it didn't happen quite that way
A little poetic license is OK.

In my little manger scene Mary's got blue eyes, she's dressed in silk and satin like a queen
Joseph's beard is neatly trimmed, just like his fingernails, And everybody's handsome and serene
The swaddled baby's smiling up at three wisemen standing guard,
So noble, not a sunburn, wart or frown
They're just hanging with the shepherds who are kneeling squeaky clean
On golden straw carpeting the ground
It's all sleek and smooth and shining,
Tho' I know it wasn't quite like that, don't you?
The truth is not quite so pretty, but it's true

I bet Mary, she was saddle sore and Joseph couldn't sleep
The wisemen smelled like camels and the shepherds smelled like sheep
And the stable smelled like cattle and the things that cattle do
The baby woke up hungry every morning, half past two

But our Mary, she's no chinadoll, she's a fighter through and through, Joseph knows he has a job to do
There isn't any stopping them, there isn't any doubt, Together they will see this journey through.
'Cause she, she was a warrior, he was her strong right arm,
In a battle that they couldn't comprehend
That baby was a treasure who would ransom all the world,
They'd carry him until he took his stand.

Even though Mary, she was saddle sore and Joseph couldn't sleep
The wisemen smelled like camels and the shepherds smelled like sheep
And the stable smelled like cattle and the things that cattle do
The baby woke up hungry every morning, half past two
And the straw got into everything, your shoes and in your hair
In the food and in the beds and on your nerves and everywhere

So if in my little manger scene, they look a little glazed
A bit of poetic license is OK.
'Cause I know it didn't happen quite that way.