Christmas Eve Can Kill You

The winter's flaking snow is brushing through the pinewood trees

I stuck my hands down deep inside my coat

I think of years ago and half remembered Christmas trees

And faces that still warm me with their glow



The cold and empty evening hangs around me like a ghost

I listen to my footsteps in the snow

The sound of one man walkin' through the snow can break your heart

But stopping doesn't help, so on I'll go



And Christmas Eve can kill you

When you're trying to hitch a ride to anywhere



The icy air I'm breathin' is all that keeps me on my feet

I feel like I've been walking all my life

A car goes running by, the man don't even turn his head

Guess he's busy being Santa Claus tonight



The saddest part of all is knowing if I switched with him

I'd leave him stumblin' ragged by the road

I'd ride that highway to the arms of my sweet family

And forget about the stranger in the cold



And Christmas Eve can kill you

When you're trying to hitch a ride to anywhere



And as I walk I'm singin' to myself, Oh Silent Night

Hoping I can save those other souls

Oh, God forgive the man who drives right by the other man

Have pity on the stranger in the cold



'Cause Christmas Eve can kill you

When you're trying to hitch a ride to anywhere