Discovered by, among others, contemporary Christian music legend Steven Curtis Chapman, Casting Crowns got a recording contract and vaulted to popularity in 2003 with songs such as If We Are the Body and Who Am I. The Until The Whole World Hears Songfacts reports that Casting Crown's 2009 Until The Whole World Hears album recorded 167,000 sales in its first week, the largest selling debut week sales figures by a Christian artist in Nielsen Soundscan history.
Over the past eight years, Atlanta based Casting Crowns has consistently delivered music that points believers back to what truly matters.
Since its launch in 2003 the band has garnered 14 GMA Dove Awards, three GRAMMY Awards and an American Music Award. In addition, the band has seen three RIAA Platinum Albums (Casting Crowns, Lifesong, Altar and The Door), two RIAA Platinum DVDs (Live From Atlanta and Lifesong Live), two RIAA Gold Albums (Until the Whole World Hears, Peace on Earth) and two Gold DVDs (Altar and The Door Live and Until The Whole World Hears Live). Casting Crowns has sold more than 8.2 million albums to date (according to Nielsen SoundScan) and has been named Billboard magazine’s top-selling Christian act for the past four years.
The band recently celebrated its first RIAA certified Gold single, “Who Am I,” from its 2003 self-titled debut. The song, selling more than 500,000 copies, is one of only 12 Christian tracks ever to secure Gold status.
Casting Crowns has always worked its tour schedule around church responsibilities and has still managed to touch audiences around the world with its live performances. It’s 2009-2011 “Until The Whole World Hears” world tour placed the band in front nearly 1 million fans in more than 175 cities around the world including performances for U. S. troops in Kuwait and Qatar. The band also performed twice in North Korea in partnership with Global Resource Services.
Alongside the 2011 feature film, Courageous, Casting Crowns wrote a song by the same name which was also featured on their album Come to the Well released the same year. The album's second single,
"Jesus, Friend of Sinners" was not released until February of 2012. In September 2013, the band released "All You've Ever Wanted", the first single from Thrive which was released on January 28, 2014 and charted No. 6 in Billboard 's Top 200 in its first week. An accompanying book, written by Mark Hall, was released and explains the walk of a child of God and how we should "dig deep and reach out".
In early 2015 Casting Crowns released the hymn-album Glorious Day - Hymns of Faith, including Casting Crowns' Until the Whole World Hears singles "Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)" and "Blessed Redeemer", an acoustic versions of "If We Are the Body" and "Praise You In This Storm" as well as eight hymns.
In addition to a busy touring, recording and writing life, four of the members of Casting Crowns serve as ministers to their home church, Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Georgia.
Away In a Manger
Casting Crowns Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head
The stars in the sky
Looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
The cattle are lowing
The Baby awakes
The little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes
I love Thee, Lord Jesus
Look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle
Till morning is nigh
Be near me, Lord Jesus
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray
Bless all the dear children
In Thy tender care
And fate us for heaven
To live with Thee there
Away in a manger
No crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head
The Lord of all creation
Laid down His sweet head
The Savior of the nation
Laid down his sweet head
The song "Away in a Manger" by Casting Crowns is a beautiful tribute to Jesus Christ, reflecting on his humble birth and pure love. The lyrics paint a vivid image of the scene as Jesus Christ laid down to sleep in a manger with no crib for a bed. The stars above the stable where he was born looked down upon him, as did the cattle nearby. However, the little Lord Jesus did not cry but lay calmly on the hay. The song also reflects on the love that Jesus Christ had for all children, as the lyrics ask for his protection and blessings on them. Finally, the song ends with a prayer to the Lord that he stays near to the singer forever and blesses all those in his care with the promise of eternal life in heaven.
Line by Line Meaning
Away in a manger
The Lord of all creation lay down His sweet head in a humble manger
No crib for a bed
There was no fancy or comfortable place to lay the Savior, only a manger
The little Lord Jesus
God came to earth in human form, as a little baby named Jesus
Laid down His sweet head
The baby Jesus peacefully laid down His head to rest
The stars in the sky
The stars above looked down upon the humble manger where Jesus lay
Looked down where He lay
The stars looked down upon the baby Jesus lying in the hay
The little Lord Jesus
Jesus, who would become the Savior of the world, as a small and innocent baby
Asleep on the hay
Jesus, the Son of God, slept on a bed of hay
The cattle are lowing
The sound of the cattle could be heard around the manger
The Baby awakes
The baby Jesus wakes up from His peaceful slumber
The little Lord Jesus
Jesus, the Lord of all, was still a small and innocent baby
No crying He makes
Although He is a human baby, Jesus makes no cries or fusses
I love Thee, Lord Jesus
The singer expresses their love for the Lord Jesus, their Savior
Look down from the sky
The singer asks Jesus to look down upon them from heaven
And stay by my cradle
The singer asks Jesus to stay by their side, like a parent watching over a child
Till morning is nigh
The singer requests Jesus' presence until the morning light arrives
Be near me, Lord Jesus
The singer asks Jesus to be close to them
I ask Thee to stay
The singer requests that Jesus stays with them
Close by me forever
The singer asks Jesus to remain close to them always
And love me I pray
The singer prays for Jesus' love and affection
Bless all the dear children
The singer prays for God's blessings on all children
In Thy tender care
The singer acknowledges God's tender and loving care for all children
And fate us for heaven
The singer prays that God will lead them and all children to heaven
To live with Thee there
The singer looks forward to living with God in heaven for eternity
Lyrics © CAPITOL CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP
Written by: WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
MAGNIFICENT PROPHET
Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.
The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.
I love thee, Lord Jesus! look down from the sky,
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.
Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And take us to heaven to live with thee there.
Sunshineinforney
This version of Away in a Manger is by far the best and my favorite. It literally brings fresh tears to my eyes every time I hear it. Thank you Casting Crowns for your music.
Justin Smith
100% agree with you! 🙂
scattyann
A beautiful version of a traditional Carol. Thank you Casting Crowns and Love in Jesus x
Music Club
these tunes are really amazing
<3
Jennifer Hensley
This is the first Christmas song I remember learning when I was in kindergarten and it has always been my favorite Christmas song for 40+ years. Now, to hear my favorite Christian group singing it, just makes it so much more special.
Jan Messali
Beautiful! Really enjoying the Casting Crowns music you posted. Thanks!
Bonnie Germano
I Love it ,, Thank you JesusFreeak !! Merry christmas !!!
Emoji Me
I love the song away in the manger it's just I love it so much
Sarah Vielle
i just love Christmas and Jesus so much. Christmas is like the best holiday :)
Kelly Tibbetts
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