David's music.

COUNTRY MUSIC

Explore David Armstrong's Full Music Catalog | Buy Davids' Music

Country album

ALBUM: FAMILY CHRISTMAS

Family Christmas

Lyrics

Mama keeps December in a cardboard box,
An angel with a broken wing, a tangled string of stars.
Daddy lifts me high enough to set her on the tree;
He says, “A little broken doesn’t mean she cannot lead.”
Grandma sets an extra plate beside her favorite chair;
I ask her who is coming, she says, “Someone needs it there.”
Then she turns the little manger so the baby faces us:
“Before we made these memories, God gave the world His love.”

Before the bows and ribbons,
Before the shopping lines,
There was Mary holding Jesus
For the very first time.

At the family Christmas, we make a little room,
For the child who brought us heaven beneath a borrowed roof.
Hang a light against the darkness, let a weary heart come in;
Let the love that filled a manger fill this house again.
From the shepherds in the fields
To the strangers at our door,
At the family Christmas,
There is always room for one more.

We give because a gift arrived no money ever bought;
We sing because that holy night gave hope a human voice.
A star shines from the treetop, candles soften every face;
The children bring the wise men to their little fireplace.
There’s flour on the counter, there are coats piled in the hall,
And Grandpa’s telling stories that we know by heart, and all
The wishes in the wrapping seem so small beside the sound
Of somebody we’ve missed all year saying, “Glad you’re still around.”

Every year we tell the story,
Every year the children grow;
May the kindness in the telling
Be the kindness that they know.

At the family Christmas, we make a little room,
For the child who brought us heaven beneath a borrowed roof.
Hang a light against the darkness, let a weary heart come in;
Let the love that filled a manger fill this house again.
From the shepherds in the fields
To the strangers at our door,
At the family Christmas,
There is always room for one more.

Now Mama’s little angel sits atop my children’s tree;
My daughter asks about the plate beside the empty seat.
Across the street, a porch light burns; a man eats on his own,
His family scattered miles away, his first December home.
I cross the snowy sidewalk with an awkward invitation;
He comes carrying bread and all the names of his relations.
By dessert, he’s teaching children how his mother used to pray;
And the chair I nearly put away has made our Christmas day.

We tell of crowded Bethlehem,
Of doors that wouldn’t yield;
Tonight I heard a neighbor laugh
And something in me healed.
The baby in the manger grew
To teach us how to live;
I thought I’d offered supper,
He had just as much to give.

At the family Christmas, we make a little room,
For the child who brought us heaven beneath a borrowed roof.
Hang a light against the darkness, let a weary heart come in;
Let the love that filled a manger fill this house again.
Let forgiveness cross the table,
Let the lonely find a place;
Let the children see the Christmas
That our words can only trace.
From the shepherds in the fields
To the strangers at our door,
At the family Christmas,
There is always room for one more.

Mama keeps December in a cardboard box;
We keep setting one more place,
And leaving doors unlocked.

All Roads Lead Home On Christmas

Lyrics

December found me working where the windows never frost,
Putting prices on my hours, never adding up the cost.
Mama called to ask if I still liked the cherry pie;
I said, “You know I do,” and heard her smiling through the line.
She never asked me outright, never made me promise when,
Just said, “I found your stocking. I’ve been hanging it again.”
I booked the last seat leaving, packed before the morning came;
Funny how a little cloth can call a grown man’s name.

All roads lead home on Christmas,
Through the snow and through the years,
To a kitchen full of questions
Nobody else would care to hear.
You can spend your whole life making
A name the world might know,
All roads lead home on Christmas,
Where you had one long ago.

Dad had strung the lights up crooked, same as every other year;
One dark bulb above the doorway, all the others shining clear.
He said, “I meant to fix that,” as he took my suitcase in;
I said, “I’d never find the place if you got good at it.”
My brother brought his children; one was standing by my knee,
Asking why the paper angel looked a little bit like me.
Mama turned it over: there, in pencil, was my name,
Thirty Christmases had passed; my crooked wings remained.

All roads lead home on Christmas,
Through the snow and through the years,
To a kitchen full of questions
Nobody else would care to hear.
You can spend your whole life making
A name the world might know,
All roads lead home on Christmas,
Where you had one long ago.

There’s a woman down the hallway in my building back in town;
Every time we share the elevator, both of us look down.
She told me Friday evening she’d be spending it alone;
I said, “Enjoy your Christmas,” then kept walking to my door.
Between the pie and coffee, I stepped out and made a call:
“There’s a seat here come next Christmas, if you’d like to meet us all.”
Mama overheard me, reached up to the cupboard shelf,
Set another plate beside us: “Tell her we can start at twelve.”

We passed the phone around the table;
She remembered every name.
Dad explained the broken porch light;
She said hers was just the same.
And when she laughed, my mother whispered,
With the phone against her ear,
“Don’t you wait until December.
You can come some Sunday, dear.”

All roads lead home on Christmas,
Through the snow and through the years,
To a kitchen full of questions
Someone’s waited long to hear.
There’s a place beyond the place cards,
There’s a chair we can pull close,
All roads lead home on Christmas
When we make a little room.

Dad said, “Leave that porch light burning.”
Mama wrapped a piece of pie.
I called to say, “Put on the kettle.”
She said, “I’ll leave on mine.”

Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire

Lyrics

Mama sets her cell phone where your dinner plate would be,
Tilts it till you’re sitting underneath the Christmas tree.
You’re three time zones behind us, eating takeout in the rain;
She says, “Honey, get a napkin,” like you’re eight years old again.
Daddy holds the camera with his thumb across the lens,
We laugh until the miles don’t feel like miles again.
You ask about the stockings; she turns so you can see,
Yours is hanging by the hearth, right where it ought to be.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
Faces glowing on a little screen.
Pull a chair up to the kitchen choir;
You’re still part of everything.
Let the whole wide world keep turning,
Let the clock say what it likes.
There’s a place for you wherever we gather,
It’s never too late to be with your tribe.

Your sister calls on FaceTime from a rooftop overseas,
Says the lights along the harbor look like stars caught in the breeze.
Grandma gives her cookie recipe, then leaves a measure out;
“That’s how I keep you calling,” and we finally figure it out.
Someone’s dog steals half a ribbon; someone spills a little wine,
There are five of us all talking, with a six-second delay in time.
Then the youngest holds her drawing up and shouts into the phone:
“I put you in the picture so you wouldn’t be alone.”

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
Faces glowing on a little screen.
Pull a chair up to the kitchen choir;
You’re still part of everything.
Let the whole wide world keep turning,
Let the clock say what it likes.
There’s a place for you wherever we gather,
It’s never too late to be with your tribe.

There’s a name we’ve all been careful not to mention through the meal,
And a message in your pocket you’ve been scared to make real.
You type, “I know it’s Christmas. Could we talk a little while?”
Watch three dots appear and vanish, then an answer lights the dial.
Your brother’s in a parking lot, still wearing his work clothes;
He says, “I nearly called you,” and that’s how the door swings open.
No one asks who started it or who was right back then;
Mama moves the phone a little: “There. You both fit in.”

We still burn the first batch,
Still argue over bows,
Still tell the same old stories
Everybody knows.
But love can learn a new way
To knock upon your door,
Tonight a little ringtone
Is what we’ve waited for.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
Faces glowing on a little screen.
Every voice another in the choir,
Every face a place we’ve kept between.
Let the whole wide world keep turning,
We’ll leave on the Christmas lights.
There’s a place for you wherever we gather,
It’s never too late to be with your tribe.

Your battery turns red; Mama says, “Find your charging cord.”
We hear you moving through your room, then pulling shut the door.
“Can I stay until the fire goes out?” you ask her quietly.
She settles deeper in her chair.
“That sounds like Christmas to me.”

All I Want for Christmas Is Us

Lyrics

You sent a picture of a house on Maple Street,
A little crooked porch, a kitchen painted green.
I said, “That window’s where our Christmas tree would go.”
You said, “I know, my love. I know.”
Then your mama needed someone down in Tennessee,
And the job I couldn’t leave kept its hold on me.
We watched December through two different panes of glass,
Making plans that another year walked past.

All I want for Christmas is us,
Two sets of keys by the door,
Your coat hanging next to mine,
Your shoes on the kitchen floor.
We don’t need the perfect house
Or every dream we’re dreaming of.
Just a place to start, two willing hearts,
All I want for Christmas is us.

Last spring I boxed my books and gave away my chair,
You cleared a little closet, said you’d meet me there.
Then the company shut down the week before my move,
And I couldn’t put that weight on you.
You said, “You don’t have to earn your place with me.”
I said, “I know,” but pride’s a stubborn thing.
Now there’s a cardboard box beside my bedroom door,
With “our kitchen” written on it, nothing more.

All I want for Christmas is us,
Two sets of keys by the door,
Your coat hanging next to mine,
Your shoes on the kitchen floor.
We don’t need the perfect house
Or every dream we’re dreaming of.
Just a place to start, two willing hearts—
All I want for Christmas is us.

Tonight you called while I was hanging up the lights,
Said, “I’m tired of kissing you through goodnight.”
I laughed, then cried, then let the ladder hit the wall;
You stayed quiet, let me say it all.
“I’m scared we’ll spend our lives getting ready for a life,
Saving all our ordinary days for better times.”
You said, “There’s room here, even with the boxes in the hall.”
For once, I didn’t say, “Next fall.”

We’ve been brave for everybody,
We’ve been careful, we’ve been kind.
We’ve kept a hundred promises
And left our own behind.
There’ll be bills upon the table,
There’ll be days we get it wrong,
But I’d rather face them with you
Than keep wishing you along.

All I want for Christmas is us,
Two sets of keys by the door,
Your coat hanging next to mine,
What are we waiting for?
We can rent a little room,
Let the tree lean if it must.
We’ve got a place to start, two willing hearts,
All I want for Christmas is us.

I’m bringing that old box marked “our kitchen,”
You can tell me where it goes.
Leave a little space beside you,
I’m coming home.

It’s A Silent Night At Home

Lyrics

Dad’s outside directing packages
Like planes in falling snow;
Mom says, “Hide that box from Amazon—
That’s the one he doesn’t know.”
The youngest taught the smart speaker
A song we can’t repeat,
And the dog’s beneath the table
Eating someone’s Christmas treat.

My sister’s on a tablet
Propped against the gravy boat;
She’s working nights in Denver,
Still in scrubs beneath her coat.
We pass her round the table,
Let her judge the pumpkin pie;
She says, “Somebody save a slice,”
And Mom says, “You know I’ll try.”

It’s a silent night at home—
Well, the silent part went wrong.
There’s a baby finding her voice
And an uncle singing strong.
There are boots beside the doorway,
There’s a coat across each chair;
You can barely hear the carols
For the people gathered there.
Let the snow fall soft and slow;
Let the whole world leave us alone.
Love’s got everybody talking—
It’s a silent night at home.

Jake came with my brother,
Said, “I couldn’t stay too late.”
He brought cookies from the corner store
And kept looking at his plate.
Said, “I haven’t done a Christmas

Since my mother passed away.”
Mom put potatoes on his plate
And said, “You’re eating here today.”
By dessert he’d lost his jacket,
By the games he’d found his grin;
When we gathered for the picture,
Someone called, “Hey, Jake, get in!”
He stood back beside the doorway,
Like he’d leave somebody out;
Granddad pulled him to the middle—
“That’s what Christmas is about.”

Then the Wi-Fi quit at seven,
And the youngest nearly cried;
Grandma brought out faded pictures,
We all crowded by her side.
There was Dad in flared-out trousers,
There was Mom before the gray—
Then Jake asked how they’d met,
And we let the phones all stay.

It’s a silent night at home—
Now the house is settling down.
There’s a child asleep on Grandpa,
Wrapping paper on the ground.

My sister whispers through the screen,
“I could almost smell the bread.”
Mom packs Jake a second dinner,
He says, “Next year, mine instead.”
Let the snow fall soft and slow;
There’s a porch light when you go.
If you need somewhere for Christmas,
There’s a place for you at home.

Jake’s phone lights up by the doorway:
“Family Christmas”—he’s been added to the thread.
He types, “I made it home. Thank you.”
Mom sends back a heart in red.

On This Christmas Night

Lyrics

The doorbell caught an angel stealing cookies off the porch;
It was Dad in Mama’s bathrobe with a flashlight for a torch.
The tree’s connected to the cloud, the lights require a code;
We’ve got artificial intelligence and extension-cord overload.
Alexa heard us say “Noel” and ordered us a boat;
Grandma said, “That’s wonderful—put Grandpa in a coat.”
The dog’s been drinking tree stand water, looking mighty pleased;
He’s the only one this Christmas getting fresh-cut herbal tea.

We tried to make it picture-perfect,
But the picture wouldn’t take—
Then somebody dropped the gravy,
And we laughed until we ached.

On this Christmas night,
Let the whole world wait outside.
We’ve got a slightly crooked star
And a houseful of open hearts.
Pass the pie, pull up a chair,
There’s a little more room right there.
Nothing’s going like we planned—
But everybody’s holding hands.
Let the wrapping paper fly;
Love looks good in this bad light.
What a beautiful, wonderful mess of a life
On this Christmas night.

My brother’s on a video call, six time zones away;
We’ve propped him by the potatoes so he’s part of the buffet.
His little girl says, “Grandma, can you pass a roll through here?”
She kisses where the camera is; we all pretend she’s near.
My sister brought a date who said he doesn’t eat gluten;
Uncle Joe said, “Neither do I—don’t know what you do with ’em.”
The teenager who “doesn’t sing” is halfway through a song;
She says she’s only being ironic—we let her carry on.

There’s a seat we wish was taken,
There’s a story we all know;
We tell it like they’re listening,
And nobody lets go.

On this Christmas night,
Let the whole world wait outside.
We’ve got a slightly crooked star
And a houseful of open hearts.
Pass the pie, pull up a chair,
There’s a little more room right there.
Nothing’s going like we planned—
But everybody’s holding hands.
Let the wrapping paper fly;
Love looks good in this bad light.
What a beautiful, wonderful mess of a life
On this Christmas night.

Then the power quits at seven—
Every screen goes winter-black.
Grandpa says, “Well, look who’s here,”
And we all start looking back.
Someone finds the birthday candles;
Someone finds an old guitar.
Without a single filter,
You can see how bright we are.

Now the neighbor’s at the doorway with a casserole for two;
Says, “My oven isn’t working.” We say, “Ours just quit there, too.”
We eat dessert before our dinner—let the record show we tried.
Dad declares it “Santa’s orders,” takes another slice of pie.
And the kids are in the boxes that the costly presents came in;
Mama’s dancing with her slippers on, and Dad’s her biggest fan.
Nobody’s checked the weather, but the window’s turning white;
For once we’re making memories without checking if they’re liked.

On this Christmas night,
Let the whole world wait outside.
We’ve got a slightly crooked star
And a houseful of open hearts.
Pass the pie, pull up a chair,

There’s a little more room right there.
Nothing’s going like we planned—
But everybody’s holding hands.
Let the wrapping paper fly;
Love looks good by candlelight.
What a beautiful, wonderful mess of a life

On this Christmas night.
The lights come on at midnight;
We turn them down again.
Grandpa’s halfway through a story—
And we want to hear the end.

Papa Sings Noel

Lyrics

Papa kept his Christmas songs
In a flour-dusted drawer,
On the backs of grocery lists
And receipts from the hardware store.
Every year he’d write a verse
For someone we’d brought home—
A baby, bride, or wandering friend
Who shouldn’t eat alone.

He’d put the turkey in too soon,
Burn the bottoms of the rolls,
Then tap his fork against his glass
And sing his Christmas roll.

Papa sings Noel,
Till every name is sung.
The little ones get lifted up,
The old ones all feel young.
He’ll lose his place, he’ll miss a note,
We’ll help him sing along.
Some folks leave a porch light on—
He leaves a place in a song.
Noel, Noel,
There’s a place where you belong.

My brother left one Christmas Eve
With his coat beneath his arm.
Two stubborn men said things that night
That did three winters’ harm.
We learned to talk around his name,
Like stepping past loose boards,
But Papa sang his verse each year
As loudly as before.

Then last week, by the kitchen phone,
I found a crumpled note:
“Son, I’ve started this ten times.

Here’s what I should have wrote:
“I was wrong. I miss you.
There’s no good way to rhyme
The years I let my pride take up
Your place at Christmastime.”

Papa sings Noel,
Till every name is sung.
The little ones get lifted up,
The old ones all feel young.
He’ll lose his place, he’ll miss a note,
We’ll help him sing along.
Some folks leave a porch light on—
He leaves a place in a song.
Noel, Noel,
There’s a place where you belong.

Christmas came with freezing rain;
We’d nearly finished grace.
Three knocks sounded at the door.
Papa froze in place.

My brother stood there holding hands
With a child we’d never met.
She looked up at the crowded room
And tightened her small grip.

“Daddy says you sing our names.
Does mine go in there too?”
Papa reached for a grocery list.
“Sweetheart, I saved room.”

Papa sings Noel,
But halfway through, he stops.
My brother takes the next line up
Right where his father lost it.
A little girl climbs on his knee;
He helps her sing along.

Some folks leave a porch light on—
He leaves a place in a song.
Noel, Noel,
There’s a place where you belong.

The turkey’s cold. The rolls are burned.
Nobody rings the dinner bell.
Papa’s learning one more name,
And we’re all singing Noel.

The Glow of Christmas

Lyrics

Dad fought a tangled string of lights,
Said a word Mom wouldn’t sing.
One whole side refused to shine—
He hung it anyway.
She set an extra dinner plate;
I asked who it was for.
She said, “Sometimes you make room first,
Then someone finds your door.”

Miss June came over carrying rolls,
Still wearing her wedding ring.
First December on her own,
First year she couldn’t sing.
Dad pulled his chair a little left,
Mom passed her something warm.
Nobody tried to fix her tears;
We let them have their turn.

Outside, half our house was dark,
But gathered ’round that table,
We had more light than we could use—
And one more chair available.

That’s the glow of Christmas,
You can’t plug it in.
It’s somebody saying, “There you are—
Come on out of the wind.”
Some see a star above a manger,
Some see the road back home.
It gets brighter when you give it—
That’s the glow, that’s the glow.
You don’t have to have much
To leave somebody less alone.

Now I’m the one untangling lights,
My daughter’s holding tape.
There’s a soldier on her grandma’s phone,
Seven time zones wide awake.
Next door, a nurse kicks off her shoes;
She’s worked since yesterday.
We send our girl with pie and forks—
She brings back one more plate.

There’s a church bell down on Main Street,
There are footsteps in the snow.
Everybody’s coming from somewhere,
Everybody needs somewhere to go.

That’s the glow of Christmas,
You can’t plug it in.
It’s somebody saying, “There you are—
Come on out of the wind.”
Some see a star above a manger,
Some see the road back home.
It gets brighter when you give it—
That’s the glow, that’s the glow.
You don’t have to have much
To leave somebody less alone.

My brother called last Christmas;
We hadn’t talked in years.
I almost let it ring out—
Then I held it to my ear.
He said, “I don’t know where to start.”
I watched the candles burn.
I said, “Tell me where you’re driving.
There’s still time to make the turn.”

For a child, it’s barely sleeping,
For a mother, one more year.
For a father, boots beside the door
He hoped he’d find back here.
For the faithful, God among us;
For the grieving, one sweet name.
We bring a thousand different wishes
To the warmth of the same flame.

That’s the glow of Christmas,
You can’t plug it in.
It’s somebody saying, “There you are—
Come on out of the wind.”
Some see a star above a manger,
Some see the road back home.
It gets brighter when you give it—
That’s the glow, that’s the glow.
You don’t have to have much
To leave somebody less alone.

My girl set out an extra plate;
I asked who it was for.
She smiled, “Sometimes you make room first…”
Then someone knocked next door.

That’s the glow of Christmas.
Leave a little room for more.

The Christmas to Remember

Lyrics

We rented out a farmhouse on the Iowa line,
With a furnace full of opinions and a clock that lost its time.
You worked mornings at the diner; I hauled grain till after dark,
We came home smelling like coffee, diesel, and a brand-new start.
Bought a leaning little spruce tree from the last row on the lot;
You turned its bare side to the wall and loved the side we got.
Our star was cut from cardboard, wrapped in foil from yesterday—
You said, “Look at all that heaven a little kitchen throws away.”

Christmas Eve, the north wind pulled the highway out of sight;
We watched the distant water tower disappear into the white.
I called your folks in Omaha: “We won’t get there tonight.”
You stood beside your packed-up bag and said, “Tell Mom we’re all right.”
Then the power quit at seven, and the house went deep and still;
You found your grandma’s candles on the kitchen windowsill.
I said, “Some Christmas, sweetheart.” You took my freezing hand:
“Well, come a little closer. We can change the evening’s plans.”

That was the Christmas to remember,
When the whole world disappeared;
Beyond the glass, a thousand miles—
Inside, you pulled me near.
We had nowhere we could get to,
Nothing shining, nothing new,
Just a quilt around our shoulders
And a candle lighting you.
All the gifts I couldn’t give you
Still lay heavy on my mind,
Till you kissed me in that kitchen
And left every one behind.

We ate crackers, cheese, and apples off your mother’s wedding plate;
You declared it Christmas dinner, said the turkey could be late.
The battery-powered radio found a choir through the snow;
You sang the parts you could remember, hummed the ones you didn’t know.
Then you bowed there in your wool socks: “Would you care to have this dance?”
I said, “I’ve got no rhythm.” You said, “Here’s your second chance.”
We made three feet by the table feel as wide as any floor,
While the wind threw all its winter at the other side of the door.

Now there’s grandchildren in the hallway, wrapping paper on the stairs,
And a turkey big enough to feed whoever finds a chair.
We’ve had Christmases with everything we used to wish we had;
You still keep that crooked cardboard star wrapped in an old bread bag.
And tonight, when all the taillights turn the corner by the mill,
You leave one candle burning on the kitchen windowsill.
Then you find me by the dishes, take the towel out of my hands—
And bow there in your wool socks.
After all these years, we dance.

To the Christmas to remember,
When the whole world disappeared,
And the girl I’d married that September
Showed me why she wanted me here.
There was nowhere we could get to,
There was nothing left to prove;
Just a farmhouse in an ocean
Of December, holding two.
Now the kitchen’s warm and crowded,
And the years have filled our home—
But I still see you by that candle
When I hear the north wind blow.

You turn the star toward the window;
I turn the radio low.
Your hand still fits inside my hand.
Outside, it starts to snow.

December Left It’s Light On

Lyrics

You called from somewhere west of town,
Said, “Snow’s erased the road.”
I said, “Go easy, take your time;
You’ve got a place to go.”
The wreath blew sideways on the door,
The star leaned to the right;
This house won’t win a ribbon,
But you’ll see it half a mile tonight.

I hung your stocking by the stove,
Your name still spelled out wrong.
The dog’s been sleeping on your coat—
He knew you wouldn’t be long.
I tried your mother’s cookie recipe;
The smoke alarm approved.
It sang three rounds of “Hallelujah”
Till I waved it with my shoe.

December left its light on,
A little gold against the blue.
The whole town’s gone to dreaming,
But this window waits for you.
Let the north wind have its tantrum,
Let the snow come drifting down.
December left its light on—
Love won’t let you miss this house.

Your message said, “Don’t wait for me,”
At quarter after ten.
I put another log upon
The fire and checked again.
There’s coffee strong enough to stand
A spoon up on its own,
And one good cookie I’ve been guarding—
Even Santa leaves that one alone.

Then headlights swept the ceiling
Like a slow and falling star.
The dog got to the window
Before you even parked the car.
You said, “Sorry Christmas had to wait,”
With snowflakes in your hair.
I said, “I only warmed it up—
Your Christmas starts right here.”

December left its light on,
And you followed that little glow.
Now your boots are by the doorway,
Leaving puddles in a row.
Let the north wind have its tantrum;
We’ve got nowhere else to go.
December left its light on—
Now the one I love is home.

You reached to switch the porch light off.
I said, “Leave it till the dawn.
Somebody else is coming home…
December left its light on.”