Though born in Seattle, Washington (where she spent the first ten years of her life), she moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1949. As a child Collins studied classical piano with Antonia Brico, making her public debut at age 13 performing Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos. It was the music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, and the traditional songs of the folk revival of the early 1960s, that piqued Collins' interest and awoke in her a love of lyrics. Three years after her debut as a piano prodigy, she was playing guitar. She eventually made her way to Greenwich Village, New York City, where she busked and played in clubs until she signed with Elektra Records, a record label with which she was associated for 35 years. In 1961, Collins released her first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, at the age of 22.
At first she sang traditional folk songs, or songs written by others, in particular the social poets of the time, such as Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, and Bob Dylan. She recorded her own versions of seminal songs of the period, such as Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn". Collins was also instrumental in bringing then little known composers to a wider public; for example, she recorded songs by Canadian poet Leonard Cohen, and Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.
With her 1967 album Wildflowers, she began to record her own compositions, the first of which was entitled "Since You've Asked". This album also provided Collins with a major hit, and a Grammy award, with her version of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now", which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1968's Who Knows Where the Time Goes was produced by Stephen Stills (of Crosby, Stills & Nash), with whom Collins was romantically involved at the time (she is the "Judy" of the Stills-written CSN classic "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"). It had a mellow country sound, and included Ian Tyson's "Someday Soon" and the title track, a Sandy Denny song which has been covered by several artists.
By the 1970s, Collins had a solid reputation as an art song singer and folksinger. She had also begun to stand out with her own compositions. She was also known for her broad range of material: her songs from this period include the traditional gospel song "Amazing Grace", the Stephen Sondheim Broadway ballad "Send in the Clowns" (both of which were top 20 hits as singles), and her own compositions such as "My Father" and "Born to the Breed".
In 1979 she posed nude on the album "Hard Times For Lovers".
In more recent years, Collins has taken to writing, producing a memoir, "Trust Your Heart" in 1987, and two novels. Though her record sales are not what they once were, she still records and tours. One of her more recent albums is a collection of songs based on her novel Shameless. She performed at US President Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1993, singing "Amazing Grace" and "Chelsea Morning". (The Clintons have stated that their daughter Chelsea was named after Collins' recording of the Joni Mitchell song.)
Activism
Like other folk singers of her generation, Collins was drawn to social activism. She is a representative for UNICEF and campaigns on behalf of the abolition of landmines. Following the 1992 death of her son Clark Taylor at age 33 after a long bout with depression and substance abuse, she has also become a strong advocate of suicide prevention. Her 2003 book, Sanity & Grace, chronicles her recovery from her son's suicide and attempts to provide some comfort and guidance to other families dealing with the loss of a loved one to suicide. She describes the "Seven T's" as a means for going through this process of recovery: Truth, Therapy, Trust, Try, Treat, Treasure, and Thrive. The Truth is that there should be no guilt in suicide; Therapy helps people express their emotions and seek grief counseling; Trust is the effort to believe that one can make it through the loss and keep a belief in life and in the future; Try means to stay away from drugs and alcohol or any excess--including overeating--as a means to deal with the loss and pain; Treat means to take care of the mind, body, and spirit with exercise and meditation; Treasure means to keep the memory of the moments to be treasured, and for this Collins recommends writing and keeping a journal; and Thrive means to be positive, hopeful, open to love and others, and continuing to know that you can rebuild your life on a basis of hope.
Awards and recognition
Grammy Award, Best Folk Performance or Folk Recording, "Both Sides Now", 1968
Grammy Award, Song of the Year, "Send in the Clowns", 1975
Nominated with Jill Godmillow for an Academy Award for the documentary "Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman" (1975), about her classical piano instructor, conductor Antonia Brico.
Discography
Maid of Constant Sorrow (1961)
The Golden Apples of the Sun (1962)
Judy Collins #3 (1964)
The Judy Collins Concert (1964)
Judy Collins' Fifth Album (1965)
In My Life (1966)
Wildflowers (1967)
Who Knows Where The Time Goes? (1968)
Whales and Nightingales (1970)
Both Sides Now (1971)
Living (1971) (Live)
Colors of the Day (1972) (Greatest Hits)
True Stories, and Other Dreams (1973)
Judith (1975)
Bread and Roses (1976)
So Early in the Spring (1977) (15th anniversary collection)
Hard Times for Lovers (1979)
Running for My Life (1980)
Times of Our Lives (1982)
Home Again (1984)
Trust Your Heart (1987)
The Stars Of Christmas (Selected Especially For Avon) (1988)
Sanity and Grace (1989)
Fires of Eden (1990)
Baby's Bedtime (1990)
Baby's Morningtime (1990)
Judy Sings Dylan... Just Like a Woman (1993)
Come Rejoice! A Judy Collins Christmas (1994)
Shameless (1994)
Voices (1995)
Christmas at the Biltmore Estate (1997)
Forever: An Anthology (1997)
Both Sides Now (1998)
Classic Broadway (1999)
All on a Wintry Night (2000)
Judy Collins Live at Wolf Trap (2000)
Judy Collins Sings Leonard Cohen: Democracy (2004)
The Essential Judy Collins (2004)
Portrait of an American Girl (2006)
Videography
Baby's Bedtime (1992)
Baby's Morningtime (1992)
Junior playing the operator of a home for unwed mothers opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger
Christmas at the Biltmore Estate (1998)
The Best of Judy Collins (1999)
Intimate Portrait: Judy Collins (2000)
Judy Collins Live at Wolf Trap (2003)
Wildflower Festival (2003) (DVD with guest artists Eric Andersen, Arlo Guthrie, and Tom Rush)
Bibliography
Trust Your Heart (1987)
Amazing Grace (1991)
Sanity and Grace: A Journey of Suicide, Survival and Strength (2003)
The Little Road To Bethlehem
Judy Collins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The road
I sit up some
The lambs were
Coming homeward
One by one
I heard
A sheepbell
Calling them
Along
The little road
To Bethlehem
Beside
An open door
As I drew night
I heard
Sweet Mary
A lullaby
She sang
About the lambs
At close of day
And rocked her
Tiny boy
Among the hay
Across the air
The silver
Sheepbell rang
The lambs
Are coming home
Sweet Mary sang
You're
A star of gold
You're
A star of gold
Is shining
In the sky
So sleep
My little baby
Go lullaby
As I walk down
The road
I sit up some
The lambs were
Coming homeward
One by one
I heard
A sheepbell
Softly
Calling them
Along
The little road
To Bethlehem
The Little Road to Bethlehem by Judy Collins depicts a first-person narrative of a traveler who is passing by a road on his journey to Bethlehem. He observes and hears lambs coming back home and follows them down a small road. The traveler comes across an open door and hears Mary, mother of Jesus, singing a lullaby to her newborn son. The lyrics describe how Mary sings a song about the lambs and rocks her child among the hay, while the soft sound of sheepbells can be heard in the background. She then tells her child that he is a star of gold shining bright in the sky and sings him a lullaby to sleep. The traveler continues on the road hearing the sound of the sheepbells, reminding him of the peacefulness of the day he spent around Bethlehem.
The song’s lyrics capture the essence of the Judeo-Christian Nativity story of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus born in a manger with shepherds and their flock in attendance. The lyrics of the song create a sweet, tender, and peaceful mood that captures the essence of the Nativity story. The song appeals to the human senses by capturing the sounds of nature and human voices toward the end of the song. The slow tempo of the song adds to subtly amplify the peacefulness of the setting.
Line by Line Meaning
As I walk down
As I journey along
The road
The path leading to my destination
I sit up some
I alert my senses
The lambs were
The young sheep were
Coming homeward
Returning to their abode
One by one
Individually and consecutively
I heard
I perceived with my ears
A sheepbell
A bell attached to a sheep
Softly
Gently and delicately
Calling them
Summoning them
Along
On the course of
The little road
The minor path
To Bethlehem
To the town of Bethlehem
Beside
Next to
An open door
An entrance without obstruction
As I drew night
As I approached closer
I heard
I perceived with my ears
Sweet Mary
The kind-hearted woman named Mary
A lullaby
A soothing song to put someone to sleep
She sang
She vocalized melodically
About the lambs
Referencing the sheep
At close of day
When the night approaches
And rocked her
And cradled her baby
Tiny boy
Small newborn male
Among the hay
In the bed of straw
Across the air
Through the atmosphere
The silver
The shiny
Sheepbell rang
Bell of the sheep jingling
The lambs
The young sheep
Are coming home
Are returning to their abode
Sweet Mary sang
The kind-hearted woman named Mary sang
You're
You are
A star of gold
A bright object made of gold
Is shining
Is glowing
In the sky
Up in the heavens
So sleep
So slumber
My little baby
My small infant
Go lullaby
Go, let the lullaby put you to sleep
Contributed by Callie A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Tony McGreal
The very best version of this great tune.
meltzerboy
Also try to old recording, c. 1910, by British tenor, Webster Booth, on YT.
electro
Very very good, I could hear all of the words on this recording.
Sole to soul
Never heard of this. . .nice