Peter was born in England, as one of four kids, and soon learned to play a … Read Full Bio ↴Peter was born in England, as one of four kids, and soon learned to play a variety of instruments such as recorder, clarinet, cornet, trombone, violin, harmonica, and piano. What he was not given were any instructions in playing the guitar. Therefore Peter self-trained to play a few simple chords and felt intrigued by the influence of The Beatles and other 60s music at the time. In his late teenager years he waived going to college, electing instead to pursue a career in the music business. He started to play professionally in small clubs and would eventually move to London, where he soon met Scottish singer/songwriter Al Stewart. Pretty soon Peter joined Al's backing band and toured England up and down, subsequently the USA, providing guitar and keyboards to the band's sound.

For the recordings of "Year of the Cat" Al put a classic Spanish guitar into Peter's hands and asked him to play on it for one song of the forthcoming album. That part became the opening of the well-known "On The Border". It were those recording sessions when Peter also worked with producer Alan Parsons of The Alan Parsons Project.

In 1978 he followed Al Stewart and moved to Los Angeles, CA. Around this time Peter's younger brother Danny felt the inspiration to form his own group, which would become Matt Bianco ("Bianco" is Italian for "White"). Temporarily the Al Stewart backing band was renamed to Shot in the Dark, which consisted basically of the crew (among them bass player Robin Lamble) which played on Al Stewart's 1980 and 1981 albums. Shot in the Dark alone only released one album in 1981; they disbanded when their record label closed down.

In the following years Peter became more and more involved in the L.A. music scene and played with the likes of Johnny Rivers (the "Secret Agent Man"), Bernie Leadon (after he left the Eagles), Susanna Hoffs (after she left The Bangles), Tori Amos (before she got famous), and Janis Ian ("At Seventeen"). Through this connection with Matt Bianco, Peter would contribute his guitar playing on albums of the band as well as later on with their lead singer Basia, also joining her on tours. In the late 80s he would discover that one of his neighbors, a man named Skipper Wise, was also a musician. Peter agreed to join him and his band Windows occasionally, playing guitar and keyboards on some of their records. When Skipper decided in 1988 to record a solo album (The Clock & The Moon) Peter agreed to support him, but asked for the same favor in return when it would come to his first solo album. Only one year later, in 1989, Peter White's first solo effort, Reveillez-Vous, was recorded and published, co-produced by Skipper Wise. A second release, Excusez-Moi, was finished in a similar fashion in 1992. Peter White became a leading smooth jazz musician and joined the "Guitars & Saxes" tour together with jazz musicians such as Richard Elliot, Warren Hill and Craig Chaquico.

The Little Drummer Boy
Peter White Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Come, they told me pa-rum pum pum pum
Our newborn King to see, pa-rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring pa-rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King pa-rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum. rum pum pum pum
So to honor Him pa-rum pum pum pum
When we come

Little Baby pa-rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa-rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring pa-rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give our King pa- rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you, pa-rum pum pum pum
on my drum?

Mary nodded pa-rum pum pum pum
The Ox and Lamb kept time pa-rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him pa-rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him pa -rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum

Then He smiled at me pa-rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum

Overall Meaning

Peter White's song The Little Drummer Boy tells the story of a young boy, who is also a poor shepherd, on his journey to see the newborn King of kings. When he arrives, he is saddened by the lack of any suitable gifts to lay at the feet of the infant king. The boy thinks for a while and realizes that he has nothing to offer but a talent, his drum. He asks Mary if he can play for the newborn King, and she nods, indicating that it would be a fitting tribute to the baby. The boy starts playing the drum, and to his amazement, the animals around him, namely the ox and lamb, started to play along too. When he was finished, the baby smiled at him, in gratitude for the effort and the love displayed.

The lyrics of Peter White's song are a classic and widely recognized. The pa-rum pum pum pum line, for instance, is known the world over. The song's message is one of giving from your best, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant. It teaches about humility, service, and gratitude. One can only imagine how humbling and overwhelming it must have been for the shepherd boy to be given the privilege of presenting his talent to the king of a whole nation.

Line by Line Meaning

Come, they told me pa-rum pum pum pum
They called upon me to come with a rhythmic beat

Our newborn King to see, pa-rum pum pum pum
To witness the arrival of our newly born king with a rhythmic beat

Our finest gifts we bring pa-rum pum pum pum
We bear our most prized offerings with a rhythmic beat

To lay before the King pa-rum pum pum pum
To present before the king of kings with a rhythmic beat

Rum pum pum pum. rum pum pum pum
Rhythmic beats continue

So to honor Him pa-rum pum pum pum
Thus, to show respect to him with a rhythmic beat

When we come
When we arrive

Little Baby pa-rum pum pum pum
A little baby to whom we sing with a rhythmic beat

I am a poor boy too, pa-rum pum pum pum
I'm just a poor boy with no profferable gifts, yet delivering a rhythmic beat

I have no gift to bring pa-rum pum pum pum
There's no offering I have brought, just the rhythm of my drum

That's fit to give our King pa- rum pum pum pum
An offering that is deemed appropriate for our king is absent, I bring only rhythmic beats

Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum
Rhythmic beats continue

Shall I play for you, pa-rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you with the rhythmic beat of my drum

on my drum?
On the drums that I possess

Mary nodded pa-rum pum pum pum
Mary gave consent with a nod to the rhythmic beat

The Ox and Lamb kept time pa-rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb maintained the rhythm and beat along with me

I played my drum for Him pa-rum pum pum pum
I played my drums for him with a rhythmic beat

I played my best for Him pa -rum pum pum pum
I played my very best for him with the most splendid rhythmic beat

Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum
Rhythmic beats continue

Then He smiled at me pa-rum pum pum pum
He smiled at me in delight along with the rhythmic beat that I played

Me and my drum
Just me and my drum, with the rhythmic beat that we played

Lyrics © Kanjian Music, INTERNATIONAL KORWIN CORP, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Harry Simeone, Henry V Onorati, Katherine Kennicot Davis, Lorenzo Definti

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS