Christmas In The Country
Bill & Gloria Gaither Lyrics

For thirty some odd years he faced
For more than thirty years, he confronted and dealt with the challenges of life.

A grinder in the city,
He worked tirelessly in the city to earn a living.

Hustlin' day in day out just tryin' to survive,
He worked hard every single day just to make ends meet.

He bought his wife the finer things,
He provided his wife with high-quality, luxurious items.

And sent his kids to college,
He paid for his children's education.

That always took what little bit,
This always depleted the little bit of money he had saved up.

He tried to put aside,
He attempted to save money for himself and his family.

But through it all he had one thing
Despite everything, he had one thing that kept him going.

That seemed to keep him going,
This one thing gave him the strength to keep moving forward.

A dream that someday he could leave
His dream was to eventually escape the city and its stresses.

This city life behind,
He wanted to leave behind the hustle and bustle of the city.

I watched his hair turn thin and gray,
Over the years, I observed his hair become sparse and gray.

But his dream never faded,
Despite getting older, his dream never lost its strength.

He told me all about it
He shared his dream with me countless times.

At least a thousand times.
He talked about it so often that I heard it repeatedly.

[Chorus]
The chorus of the song is about his dream of having a place in the country.

He always wanted, a place out in the country,
He had always dreamed of owning a home in a rural area.

Where the birds sing, in the morning,
He desired a place where he could wake up to the beautiful sounds of birds singing.

And the grass is emerald green,
He wanted a luscious green lawn surrounding his home.

A place where, he could feel the mornin' sunshine,
He wanted a place where he could bask in the warmth of the morning sun.

And sit out in the evenin',
He wanted to relax outside on his porch in the evenings.

Where the air is, fresh and clean.
He desired a place where the air was clean and refreshing.

It took lots of overtime
He had to work long hours to achieve his dream.

To keep his wife up with the Jonses,
He worked hard to buy his wife all the things that would keep her up to date with the latest trends.

And more to get his son out of
Furthermore, he had to spend even more money to get his son out of

His run-ins with the law,
his son's repeated encounters with law enforcement.

The more it took the more he gave,
Despite the increasingly high cost, he continued to provide whatever his family needed.

Never once complaining,
He never expressed frustration or annoyance with his situation.

I don't know how he ever stood
I do not know how he managed to handle

The pressure of it all.
the intense pressure of providing for his family.

I never thought he'd make it,
I doubted that he would ever be able to achieve his dream.

But he finally left the city,
But he eventually succeeded in leaving the city.

And now he's got that special little place,
He now owns a unique and intimate home.

To call his own,
A place that he can proudly call his own.

Today I took a ride out in the country
On this day, I visited him at his new home in the countryside.

Just to see him,
I went there just to spend time with him and see his new life.

It wasn't hard to find
It was not difficult to locate his new home.

Because his name was on the stone.
His name was engraved on a stone marker that identified his new property.

[Chorus: x2]
The chorus repeats the dream of having a peaceful home in the countryside.