Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American … Read Full Bio ↴Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of all time, King is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the US, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1962 and 2005.

King's major success began in the 1960s when she and her first husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote more than two dozen chart hits, many of which have become standards, for numerous artists. She has continued writing for other artists since then. King's success as a performer in her own right did not come until the 1970s, when she sang her own songs, accompanying herself on the piano, in a series of albums and concerts. After experiencing commercial disappointment with her debut album Writer, King scored her breakthrough with the album Tapestry, which topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971 and remained on the charts for more than six years.

King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry, which held the record for most weeks at No. 1 by a female artist for more than 20 years. Her record sales were estimated at more than 75 million copies worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a performer and songwriter. She is the recipient of the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first woman to be so honored. She is also a 2015 Kennedy Center Honoree.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carole_King

Studio albums
Writer (1970)
Tapestry (1971)
Music (1971)
Rhymes & Reasons (1972)
Fantasy (1973)
Wrap Around Joy (1974)
Thoroughbred (1976)
Simple Things (1977)
Welcome Home (1978)
Touch the Sky (1979)
Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King (1980)
One to One (1982)
Speeding Time (1983)
City Streets (1989)
Colour of Your Dreams (1993)
Love Makes the World (2001)
A Holiday Carole (2011)

Do You Hear What I Hear
Carole King Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Said the night wind to the little lamb,
Do you see what I see
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
Do you see what I see
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear
A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
Do you know what I know
In your palace warm, mighty king,
Do you know what I know
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Let us bring Him silver and gold

Said the king to the people everywhere,
Listen to what I say
Pray for peace, people everywhere!
Listen to what I say
The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night

He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

Overall Meaning

Carole King’s song, Do You Hear What I Hear, is a Christmas carol that describes an exchange between different creatures on seeing and hearing something extraordinary. The first stanza asks a little lamb if he can see what the night wind sees; a star of extraordinary brightness shining in the sky. The second stanza has the little lamb asking a shepherd boy if he can hear what he hears; the sound of a song resonating through the sky, as if it were a voice as big as the sea. The third stanza has the shepherd boy telling the mighty king, who is in his warm palace, what he knows about a poor child who is shivering in the cold. He urges the king to bring silver and gold to the Child. The final stanza has the king telling everyone to listen, and to pray for peace everywhere, as the Child, who is sleeping in the night, will bring them goodness and light.

Line by Line Meaning

Said the night wind to the little lamb,
The wind spoke to the lamb

Do you see what I see
Can you observe what I observe

Way up in the sky, little lamb,
There is something high above us

A star, a star, dancing in the night
A celestial object that seems to move at night

With a tail as big as a kite
It has a long, flowing tail

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
The lamb spoke to the boy who cares for him

Do you hear what I hear
Are you listening to what I'm listening to

Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
There is a sound traveling through the air

Do you hear what I hear
Can you also hear it

A song, a song, high above the trees
It's a musical tune at a considerable height

With a voice as big as the sea
The sound comes across as enormous and powerful