The Night The Lights Went Out On Christmas Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Intro 1]
[D]
[G]
[D]
[G][D]

[Verse 1]
Every [D]year since 1960,
[G]the Johnsons have filled their yard
with [D]nifty blinking reindeer
dancing dwarves and [G]stars.
It [D]started kind of innocently
just some lights within a tree
and then the mailbox got
all lit up
then the chimney
and then the eaves
and then the half shell
Mary was blinking neon blue
then their hydrant doghouse
and [A]then they built a [D]petting zoo
with electric reindeer llamas
horses donkeys mules
[G]and and a life [D]-size baby Jesus,
sparkling like a desert jewel.
[G]Well, the light so [D]rattled
the neighborhood
that the Smiths planned a revolt,
led by a neon Santa [G]Claus
who buzzed and [D]sparked a
thousand jolts.
The Williams rolled out cotton [G]snow,
the Wheelers pinched a Grinch,
[D]Mr. Greenberg lit a menorah
with eight -foot flames
and did not flinch.
while things got so darn cluttered
that every house along the street
vanished beneath the twinkling [G]junk
like [D]pajamas beneath the [A]sheets.
[D]And with each new year
this competition
brought about a family tra[G]dition
[D]to see who could outdo [G]themselves
with [D]barking penguins, [G]sleighs [A]and elves.
[D]And pre[G]tty soon fro[C]m
[G]miles around
people came to Medford [C]town
to [G]see the sights on Christmas
block.
[C]The lights come [G]on at 6 o 'clock
and the [Cm]cars they [G]came in droves
and droves driving at their leisure
they would gawk and squawk
and [C]stare in shock[G]
while their children had
[C]near seizures.
[G]Well even up in outer space
astronauts [C]could see [G]the place,
the Christmas lights so bright [C]to see,
[G]made them homesick for their families.
[C]But [G]then one Christmas it
all did change.
[C]There was no [G]space left to arrange
in all the Johnson's neighborhood
[D]except the top where one tree stood.
So Missy [G]Johnson took a star
and [D]on a ladder leaning far
she put it on that last tree's top,
and all the neighbors'
chins did drop.
Then Jimmy Johnson switched a switch,
Santa's hands [G]turned six o 'clock,
[D]an d every light in Medford
Town blew out,
block by block by block.
Well then Connecticut, Rhode Island,
state by state,
all of America turned black as slate.
[G]Oh, Canada, [D]then Mexico,
fell into a deep shadow.
Across the Atlantic, the Eiffel Tower popped
and fizzed and was out of power.
London, Rio, Tokyo were in the dark,
but in the know.
And in this blackout, all did stand,
heart broken down to every man,
till Missy Johnson's eyes [G]looked up,
and her little voice did there erupt.
The stars, the [C]stars above our [D]heads,
they've never been [G]so clear,
[C]she said,
[G]and everyone was quite amazed
to see the Milky Way ablaze.
Ten billion stars [C]for every eye
[G]stretched across the newborn sky,
satellites and meteors
each were counted by the
score.
Now who would have [C]thought that [G]the sky
would know how to put on a Christmas show
without that plastic blinky [C]stuff.
[D]The sky itself [G]was just enough.
See all it took on Christmas night
to [D]guide three kings was one star's light
and the people stood on Christmas block
held on to the simple thought
Christmas can be neon free
without [G]the Santa's [D]frost
[A]ies reindeer [D]seep
and the neighbors they all sighed relief
because those tangled [G]lights
could [D]cause such grief.
And the next year out [G]on Christmas block,
[D]they lit a candle on a rock.
They gathered round it merrily.
They sang a Christmas [G]melody
and [D]no one even seemed to care
that the [G]decorations [D]weren't even there.
No, maybe they could steal the scene
on the holiday called Halloween.