We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

lyrics

O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL

Midnight Mass:

“Give peace to your neighbors,” commands the priest. I always end up shaking hands with the guy who wipes his hand across his nose, so I dive down under the pew. I think I’m alone, but from two rows back, I see an old couple slither on their bellies, heading my way. “We’re trying to cheat death,” says the old man who smells of boiled cabbage.

To kill time, we play a few hands of Pinochle, and by the third round, I look up from my crummy cards to see half the congregation under the pews, each with their own reason. “I hope those choir ladies haven’t quit their day jobs,” mutters a man in a Santa Claus hat. “I caught an altar boy staring at my chest,” says a woman in a low-cut V-neck.

Then a guy tanked up on eggnog begins to belt out Christmas carols. Soon we’re all singing face down on the floor, our arms flung across each other’s backs. We roll from side-to-side to simulate a collective swaying, and I feel like we belong to one big, happy family. I don’t even care who has what on their hands.

credits

from All This Living: Selected Recorded Poems, released February 26, 2023
"O Come All Ye Faithful" Music by John Reading (Public Domain)

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Joshua Michael Stewart image

Joshua Michael Stewart Massachusetts

Joshua Michael Stewart is a poet and musician living in Western Massachusetts.

contact / help

Contact Joshua Michael Stewart

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Joshua Michael Stewart, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now