Josiah Gilbert Holland: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

There's a Song in the Air

Josiah Gilbert Holland

“There's a Song in the Air” as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920).

Josiah Gilbert Holland: Collected Lyrics Text 1 1920 · historical text
Public domainHymnSacred song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Army and Navy Hymnal, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

There's a song in the air!

There's a star in the sky!

There's a mother's deep prayer,

And a baby's low cry!

And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,

For the man-ger of Bethlehem cradles a King!

There's a tumult of joy

O'er the wonderful birth,

For the Virgin's sweet boy

Is the Lord of the earth.

Ay! the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,

For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!

In the light of that star

Lie the ages impearled;

And that song from afar

Has swept over the world.

Every hearth is aflame, and the beautiful sing,

In the homes of the nations that Jesus is King!

We rejoice in the light,

And we echo the song

That comes down through the night

From the heavenly throng.

Ay! we shout to the lovely evangel they bring,

And we greet in his cradle our Saviour and King!

A-men

Credits

Written by Josiah Gilbert Holland

Words by Josiah Gilbert Holland. Historical text published in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920), “There's a Song in the Air”

The 1920 published edition is in the public domain in the United States (pre-1931 publication). Entries whose credited author died more than 70 years ago are also in the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions; traditional and anonymous entries are public domain. Pages whose scan quality is below the proofread threshold are held for review.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-26. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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