4. How a Scrooge is Made

Song 4 of A Musical Version of Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. c2025 Bob Nordquist
I am the bringer of regret, the turn you might have missed
The place you wandered off the path, the lips you somehow never kissed
The hopes and dreams of childhood, and a life lived much too fast
But tonight for Ebenezer, I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past
What business brings me here? I raise my voice to bring a scare
My business Ebenezer, tonight is your welfare
Scrooge would have preferred, a good night’s sleep in his own bed
Then your reclamation I snapped back, while light exploded from my head
Every year I find a sinner, but soon my light will fade
Until it does, I will illuminate, the tragic way a Scrooge is made
I see a road full of ponies, each with a child upon its back
Shouting greetings to the fields, and to their friends back in the pack
I see a town that’s full of life, Christmas spirit, hope and joy
And a school down the road, dark and empty, but for one boy
I see the young boy at the school, all alone but with his friends
From the pages of his books, somehow real, but still pretend
The bird Robin Crusoe and Ali Baba fill his mind
And fill the empty hole that comes from being left behind
Are you troubled Ebenezer? Your jaded eye just shed a tear.
A boy was singing at my door today, I was abrupt with him I fear.
I see the boy now older, in the body of a man.
But this time he’s interrupted, by his little sister Fan.
I’ve come to bring you home dear brother, Father changed his mind
He’s not the man you used to know, he’s older now and kind.
Your sister died too young, but before her light went dead,
She married and gave birth to your jolly nephew Fred.
Your family was distant, and your father fond of gin.
But even now you’re not alone, you still have living kin.
This is only the beginning, the foundation has been laid.
A boy that’s raised apart from love, that’s how a Scrooge is made