> Maddy Prior > Songs > Poor Little Jesus

Poor Little Jesus

[ Roud 10067 ; Ballad Index LxU101 ; Mudcat 39228 ; trad.]

Maddy Prior and The Carnival Band sang the traditional negro spiritual Poor Little Jesus in 1991 on their CD Carols and Capers, in 1992 on their Maxi-CD I Saw Three Ships, in 1998 on their live CD Carols at Christmas, and in 2005 on their DVD An Evening of Carols and Capers.

Jon Boden sang Poor Little Jesus as the 12 December 2010 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Lyrics

Maddy Prior sings Poor Little Jesus

O, poor little Jesus,
This world gonna break your heart.
There’ll be no place to lay your head, my lord.
O, poor little Jesus.

O, Mary the mother,
O, Mary, she bow down and cry,
For there’s no place to lay his head, my Lord.
O, poor little Jesus.

Come down, all you holy angels,
Sing round him with your golden harps,
For some day he will die to save this world.
O, poor little Jesus.