First Christmas - Stan Rogers - Live

[Willowdared]

Stan Rogers remains one of my favorite artists....such a deeply moving song

[Galadriel46]

Anybody who gets emotional over this song will probably also like "Streets of London" by Ralph McTell, and "Needle of Death" by Bert Jansch.

[doraned]

Absolutely beautiful. First heard this from Harvey Reid. Now I've got to find out more about Stan Rogers.

[eepetius]

Reminds me of my sister in the military :(

[d0k3pi]

been away from home many Christmases. Every Christmas season, this song comes to my mind now and then. It tears me up every time I listen to it. Such a beautiful song!!

[skinflintable]

replying to Shaunmacdonalds comments, I know exactly what you're feeling buddy, But my motto is, Work to live, Don't live to work. When my daughter was born i took the next five years off . My wife worked & I baby sat my sister in law's kids. for my pogey. try it. I Remember the smell of turkey , cornedbeef &cabbage, Ribblets, moose roast, &good old salt cod, you could be a kindred spirit . reply to GREG. I will know

[KanyeTroll]

saddest song OF ALL TIME!!!!

[dianeandterry]

Last Christmas was my first Christmas without my husband... he died before Thanksgiving.  We were married for 38 years...

[shaunmacdonald123]

As all East Coasters know from time to time work takes us from home.......a home that we only know......soft......warm..... and the smell of moms turkey and dressing fills the house........aaaaaa a feeling I will never forget.......and everytime I experience it .... it always brings me back to when I was a kid with the snow banks up to the eves of the house. I tell ya bys being away from all a that stuff is pretty hard for a fella to swallow.

[brianjca]

It'll rip your heart out and I have to thank Stan for making his remarkable music.

[Kelt4ever]

I had spent a lot of Christmases working out of the Country, and others working so someone else could be with their family... So when he released this song, I had to get it.... Still resonates today...

[rearse]

Thank you. This is my first Christmas away from home.

[Ryanime1986]

@rearse it was my second. hasn't gotten easier, but i feel you. this song cuts to the core.

[Ottawarocket]

This song always makes me weep, Stan was just an amazing songwriter

Rocket

[DarrellLarose]

I find both his brother Garnet Rogers, and Stan's son Nathan are worth listening too. But they aren't Stan.

[McGrenzer]

UNIVERSAL

[SDFeverTV]

R.I.P Stan....

[lanny2084]

It's september, and I still cry everytime I listen to it. Amazing!

[lgcrooks]

One of my great regrets in life is that I never saw Stan perform live. I am a confirmed folkie, and as a Canadian, he was the greatest of them all. So sorry. So sad.

[McGrenzer]

@lgcrooks Hi, lg. This must be where I found your name. I did see Stan, just once, in a local folkclub. He was a dynamo, a "little" teapot, always on the boil, with one of the richest voices I've ever heard. And to think he wrote almost every song he recorded or sang in concert! In "One Warm Line", one commentator calls his songs "mini-operas" with plots, characters and real emotion, while another says when Stan wrote about a fisherman or a farmer, he was that man.

[McGrenzer]

@lgcrooks We miss him a lot down here too.

[murph890]

Excellent - Stan at his best.

If you can find it, try Song of the Candle. Great cover version too by Laura Smith

[chrissept21]

sadist song i ever heard

[spiffylemonz]

@chrissept21 Try Meryn Cadell's "The Cat Carol" for another tune that'd be in the running for that title. :)

[chrissept21]

@spiffylemonz sounds like something harry chapin would sing!

[lgcrooks]

This song breaks my heart - but I love it. Many have had parents in this situation. But, we have four kids. One is musically talented and has the wanderlust. She had a Celtic band here that was the house band in a local pub. She went to Vancouver for a couple years and formed a band and did well. Then she came home and decided on Halifax. She didn't care for her life there, but by the time Christmas came, we didn't have the money to fly her home. On Christmas Day she called, alone!

[Vorduul]

This is seriously depressing music, but performed so well and with so much feeling that it draws me to listen to it again and again. There's no happy ending, and the heartache seems so much more real than that sung about by many another singer in many another song, but it's absolutely true to itself. A real gem.

[kaorutheimpaler]

Wonderful, truly wonderful. Rest in peace and god bless

[brianl890]

Stan Rogers is a Canadian icon who was in touch with rural Canadian life. Still photographs crossed his memory and the memory of his elders and family.. he always held them dear. That's what defines him.

[rfdarsie]

Stan Rogers: One of the best songwriters of the 20th century, no exaggeration!

[VintagePulp]

My father also introduced me to Stan Rogers. We had many hours in the car listening to Between the Breaks when I was a child. He was amazing....

[afterall14]

That's where my memories of listening to Stan are, too. Mom would play it as we drove to my brothers' hockey games, or to my own activities. I often associate his voice with a dark truck box and a highway at night.

[PapaNoMidokoro]

This one always moves me to tears, too.

[wdchrismon]

Very few songs can bring me to tears... This one, and another of Stan's tunes, Lies, always do the trick.

[powderluder]

@wdchrismon

same. genius.

[djpoconnell]

I was sending the lyrics of this song to a friend...then of course, second nature, tried You Tube.

I was going to write a coment of my own, but I don't have to:

I echo the crew of the CCGS Louis S St-Laurent:

Sometime I'll skip this song...and sometimes I'll repeat it over and over...

The man truly had a gift...

[kspill172]

as I sit here this night I wonder what the world missed by his passing I know I miss him and always will

[berserkelm]

that man had a gift to tug at heart strings. its odd, we hate and love this song.

the crew of CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent

[avalonangling]

GREAT tunes ....any chance ye might be able to post "DARK EYED MOLLY " + "LIES"

Thanks for posting this one and 45 yrs. ....Avalon/Andrew

[EdinIowa]

God I miss Stan Rogers. What could have been ..........

Thanks for posting this!

[monelleny]

This is heart-wrenching ... unforgettable.  Thanks so much for this posting!

[cjthemusicman]

Thank you for adding this classic tune for our listening enjoyment!

Very much appreciated!

[IrmaFloresta]

I want you to understand that, after two years, I finally created a YouTube account, just so I could comment on this video.

THANK YOU for posting STAN singing this; all the other videos are covers! I own all his albums but am trying to introduce a friend in the US to his music via YouTube links, do you think you could do 45 Years or Jeannie C next?? THANK YOU for helping to keep his music alive.

[d0k3pi]

Thanks for the appreciation. Give me a few days; I'll do '45 years' as soon as I get a chance.

[7808521113]

@d0k3pi

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! I have been singing this song for many years, and I wanted to send it to all my friends that love him as much as I do. I work in a seniors home and this song is too true!