Hello? 
Is there anybody out there.
All of a sudden I am out where
I really don't belong.

Why?
Remind me why I thought that leaving
Would set me loose from what I'm feeling
Not make the feeling grow.

God?
If you're there I sure could use you.
I still remember how I'd choose you
Every time I didn't now.

How?
Could I feel you all around me?
I'd wander off until you found me.
I've wandered off again.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Take it in.
Let it out.
Just like you taught me to.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Take it in.
Let it all fall out.
'Till you find the way to you.

Now?
Have I used up all my findings?
The magic spells of my unwindings?
I'm all wound up again.

Hello?
Is there anybody out there?
All of a sudden I am out where.
I really don't belong.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Take it in.
Let it out.
Just like you taught me to.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Take it in.
Let it all fall out.
'Till you find the way to you.


Words and music by Stefan Lanfer (c) 2021

The Way to You

"Enough with the breakup songs!" said my kids, teasing me for my Taylor Swift era. No heartbreak or bitterness in this one. Just fun, up tempo, major key. About being present to the moment and people you're with. "Took my phone and threw it out the window just in case..." Last verse is all social media texting shorthand - ICYMI, IRL, HMU, and more.

Key: C
Changes: GCEmCD

Lyrics:

G                C    
Woke up this morning full of wonder what to do
G                    C
Looked left looked right beside me found a sleeping you
G                    C
Lay back looked up at the ceiling - a smile across my face
G                    C
Took my phone and threw it out the window just in case…

        D
I tried to supersize a sunrise
Em
Hashtag that look in your eyes
C                      D
Find a filter that could add anything

Drove out the driveway full of wonder where to go
Looked left looked right into your eyes as if you’d know
You just smiled and shrugged your shoulders - all as if to say
The where don’t matter much at all to those who know the way

No need to supersize a sunrise
Hashtag that look in your eyes
Find a filter could add anything

In the middle of a meeting full of wonder who to be
Looked left looked right into a mirror - hey that’s me!
The one who knows it’s now or never, devil in his eyes
Let’s mix it up, let’s flip the script, let’s take ‘em by surprise

Or else they might…
Take a selfie with a sunrise
Hashtag that look in their eyes
Find a filter that could add anything

In case you missed it (was it too much information?)
I am laughing my ass off, people, you can ask me anything 
In my humble opinion, you only live once
May the force be with you; hit me up in real life

Don’t try to
Take a selfie with the sunrise
Hashtag that look in their eyes
Find a filter that could add anything….

Wrote and recorded a first video version the year we lived in Lusaka, Zambia, on the guitar we bought our daughter for her birthday on FB Marketplace Zambia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmwhNY3I8vc

Full Of Wonder

One minute the skies went grey
We got soaked to the skin
It was that kind of horrible day.
But the next minute just as suddenly we found
When something said, "Stop! You better turn yourself around."
And my God
Right there
What a feeling in the air
As a million light beams bend
A double rainbow end to end

And all is well
Everything is well
Everything is well with my soul

One minute everything that you say
Makes me so angry I feel myself going grey
But the next minute just as suddenly we found
When a look from our miracle child say, "Turn this around."
And my God, can it be?
In an instant we agree.
And all my anger breaks.
What a difference a moment makes.

And all is well
Everything is well
Everything is well with my soul

One minute we all keep far away
It's all for the best is what all the experts say
But the next minute just as suddenly we found
Such a beautiful mess of
Good people around
And my God, whatever you believe about it all
It's a reprieve!
But there's a million different ways
All the colors stuck on grays

Will it ever all be well?
Weill it all just go to hell?
With all of us digging deeper than before?

I know it all depends
On how this story ends
And if the next minute brings some miracle
To make it all well.

The Next Minute

New song brewing waiting for lyrical inspo

Something in D

rough draft that became - "What's the More" https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/whats-the-more

Can't you picture it, one day, the kids, when they say, "I've found the one and what I feel...all I know is this is real."

The More

Singer-songwriter, piano, inspired by - When the kids say, "I've found the one!" Just ask questions - three.

Lyrics:

VERSE

Can’t you picture it - one day
Our kids, when they say,
“I’ve found the one, and what I feel -” 
“All I know is this is real.”

VERSE
of course we’ll never know
Where the winds of life will blow.
So, when they come to you and me 
Let’s just ask them questions - three: 

CHORUS
What do they help you see?			
Who do they help you be?
What’s the more  -           
through that door ? (What’s the more?)

VERSE
When our folks, with all their fears
And the wisdom of their years
Still played the odds on you and me 
All they asked were questions - three: 

CHORUS
What do they help you see?			
Who do they help you be?
What’s the more  
through that door ? (What’s the more?)

BRIDGE
Far beyond the ways		
you’re as wonderful as you are,
It’s all the more.                 
than all we were before.

CHORUS
It’s what you help me see.			
It’s who you help me be.
It’s the more -           
through that door (all the more).

What's the More?

(thanks ChatGPT for this description) “A Reason to Sing” by Stefan Lanfer is a modern folk-Christmas ballad that reimagines the nativity from the perspective of the innkeeper’s wife. With acoustic warmth and poetic lyrics, it explores hospitality, humility, and the quiet moments that reveal true glory.

Lyrics:

When every room is full of a guest, my husband says, 
“Gloria!” Aren’t we so blessed?”
But, though we don’t lack for a thing, that isn’t a reason I sing:

Glo ri	a.	Glo 	ri	a.	Glo 			ria.	

I’ve never cared about the money. 
I’m happy family always stays for free
With the cousins and the friends that they bring
But that’s still not  a reason I sing:

Glo ri	a.	Glo 	ri	a.	Glo 			ria.	

“You think too much,” my husband says. 
I wish he would think some more
As he turns away that desperate pair, 
“There’s no room,” he says, and shuts the door.
But I catch them at the gate. And I show them to the place - 
not exactly fit for a king.
And the look in their eyes that says, 
“glory to God” That is a reason to sing:

Glo 	ri	a.	Glo 	ri	a.	Glo 			ria.	
Glo 	ri	a.	Glo 	ri	a.	Glo ria.

A reason to sing (the innkeeper's wife, feat. Maya Lanfer)

when your heart bursts with longing for the future you know is only possible - but you want it all

get the backstory on this one and more at: https://stefanlanfer.substack.com/

Lyrics:

CHORUS

I want it all. 

VERSE

Look at you baby girl. Look at you.
Sleeping there in my arms. 
Are you real?
My girl, my baby girl, 
the things I feel 
Counting all the precious gifts 
that life could steal

CHORUS

I want it all.	

VERSE

Are you dreaming, baby girl? Or is your mind clear?
Are you back inside the womb - 
not a worry or a care?
I’m dreaming, baby girl, 
‘bout the road ahead of you.
all the places that you’ll go 
and all the things you’ll do.

BRIDGE

I know nothing’s promised. 
Every moment is a gift.
That I should just be present. 
All your days will run so swift.
I know that’s right. 
I tell myself 
not to want the things I do.
Don’t blink or you might miss it 
is good advice and true.

CHORUS

But I want it all.

I Want it All

A soulful, piano-driven modern meditation on Isaiah 30:21—“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”
 
“The Way” draws on scripture and evokes Robert Frost to plumb a deeper truth: that at life’s forks in the road, the voice of God whispering in our ears is not only concerned with discernment—helping us know which path to choose. It’s a reminder of who we are and whose we are and how we live because of it. Life is full of choices that don’t come with clear answers, and sometimes any choice will really do. No matter which road you take (or even if you take a break right there), a voice told you to “Walk this way.”

LYRICS:

VERSE
When the roads diverged there in the wood, 
And I took the one less traveled by,
That made all the difference. 
Sometimes people ask me why
I went the way I went
And di’n't the way I di’n't. 
That question always takes me back 
To what the Good Book meant

VERSE
When it said that I can turn myself 
To the left or to the right 
And you will hear a voice behind me say
“This is the way” - all right.
I always used to think “the way”
Was all about the where -
That if I chose the wrong direction
I’d be SOL right there.

Pre-Chorus
But when the Good Lord said, 
“I am the way, the truth, the life”
Those aren’t Google Maps directions
(or a spell to spare you strife)

CHORUS
You can go left. Or you can go right
You can even take a break right there
The voice behind you always whispers
The same thing in your ear:

This is the way. This is the way. This is the way. You can walk this way.
This is the way. This is the way. You know you can walk this way.

Pre-Chorus 2
If the roads are really right or wrong, 
You can pray, “God, don’t let me stray!”
You might not know which way to turn
But you always know the way…that

CHORUS
You can go left. Or you can go right
You can even take a break right there
The voice behind you always whispers
The same thing in your ear:

This is the way. This is the way. This is the way. You can walk this way.
This is the way. This is the way. You know you can walk this way!

This is the way. This is the way. This is the way. You can walk this way.
This is the way. This is the way. You know you can walk this way!

The Way

“How Can This Be?” is an acoustic folk meditation drawn from one of the quieter corners of the Christmas story—when the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah with news too wild to believe: he and his aging wife Elizabeth will have a son. And not just any son—John the Baptist.

This song imagines Zechariah’s stunned, very human reaction. Not rebellion. Not disbelief. Just… an honest question:

“How can this be?”

With intimate, personal lyrics, this track reflects on what it means to encounter something holy in the middle of an ordinary, well-settled life—and how grace still shows up even when we ask questions.

Inspired by Luke 1:5–25, 57–66, this is a story-song for skeptics, seekers, and the ones who don’t get it all right—but still get to be part of the miracle.

Lyrics:

VERSE:

Life can be so strange
It seems by now that I would learn
To expect the unexpected
To see around the turn

VERSE:

But when I get settled in
When I get in my groove
It seems like nothing in the world
No nothing can make me move

PRE-CHORUS:

Until it does
Until I do
Until I can’t
Keep coasting through

CHORUS:

How can this be?
Have you had a look at me?
I want to believe.
But how can this be?

VERSE:

Sometimes that is a question
On the tip of every tongue
It’s not just ‘cause I’m old
It was the same when I was young
And what also hasn’t changed
No matter what the task
If there’s something
Funny about it
You can count on me to ask
PRE-CHORUS:

That’s just it.
That’s the way I do.
I just can’t
Coasting through

CHORUS:

How can this be?
Have you had a look at me?
I want to believe.
But how can this be?

BRIDGE:

I’d say so if I could
I”ll just write the same
It’s not the choice I woulda gone with
But John’s his name.

PRE-CHORUS:

That’s just it.
It’s my choice!
And just like that
You can hear my voice.

CHORUS:

How can this be?
Have you had a look at me?
I want to believe.
But how can this be?

How can this be? (Zechariah)

From the angel Gabriel’s point of view—part divine messenger, part melancholy superhero—this piano ballad gives voice to the weight of bearing news from on high to people down low who struggle to believe - and he can understand why. Honest. Wistful. A little weary. "We're not that different, you and me," he sings across the veil of eternity, holding space for mystery, doubt, and faith. For fans of introspective storytelling in the spirit of Superman (It’s Not Easy) and "Believe It or Not, I'm Walking on Air..." (The Greatest American Hero 1980s TV theme).

Lyrics:
VERSE

I get a job. I do a job and that’s what filters through.
It’s pretty much my known for - I bring messages to you.

CHORUS

We’re not that different, you and me, on different sides of eternity.
These riddles wrapped in mystery. You can believe - or not.  What will be will be.

VERSE

You get a word. You hear a word. You wonder, “Now what do I do?”
Your part is to receive it. And believe what’s true is true.

CHORUS

We’re not that different, you and me, on different sides of eternity.
These riddles wrapped in mystery. You can believe - or not. What will be will be.

BRIDGE
Look, I get it. I know how you feel.
Even talking to me you’re like, “Can this thing be real?”
“Am I awake? Am I dreaming?” “Is this the light? Am I dead?”
“Was it something I ate that’s gone to my head?”

CHORUS

We’re not that different, you and me, on different sides of eternity.
These riddles wrapped in mystery. You can believe - or not. What will be will be.

We’re not that different, you and me, on different sides of eternity.
These riddles wrapped in mystery. You can believe - or not...

You can believe - or not (Gabriel)

From You Can Believe - or Not — a new work-in-progress musical retelling of the first Christmas story through the eyes of minor characters — My Guys gives the spotlight to King Herod in a sly, flattering exchange with the three wise men. With easy charm and a velvet tone, he heaps on the praise and promises as he points them toward Bethlehem… with something smoldering below the surface.

Lyrics:

VERSE

When you say King the thing I hear
And in your eyes, I see
You are not referring to me. 
       
VERSE
You came here first and that’s the first
I knew you were wise
And I’ll know, when you return, you’re my guys

CHORUS
You’re my guys
You’re my guys
I can see it in those eyes
You’re so charming it’s disarming
You’re so wise

VERSE
You asked me where to find the king
And what I’ve done for you
Is check with my best people
My best people they come through

CHORUS
For my guys
You’re my guys
I can see it in those eyes
You’re so charming it’s disarming
You’re so wise

Bridge
Here’s the word they gave to me
To your ears from this kingly mouth
the place you seek is Bethlehem 
Not much further to the south

CHORUS
Good luck, guys!
You’re my guys
I can see it in those eyes
You’re so charming it’s disarming
You’re so wise

You’re my guys
You’re my guys
I can see it in those eyes
You’re so charming it’s disarming
You’re so wise


My guys (King Herod)

From the new Christmas musical "You Can Believe – or Not" — songs giving voice to the minor characters in the Nativity story.

The Magi’s wisdom wasn’t just in reading the stars—it was in daring to defy a king. ✨ “By Another Way” reimagines the three wise men’s story as a song of unity, wonder, and choosing a different path.

Lyrics:

Verse

We three as one we read the signs

And history and shrines the things we see

The same with these six eyes

And that is how you know that we are wise

Chorus

Go back by another way go back by another way go back by another way

Verse

We’ve come so far following a star

Rising from the east it stood out like a beast

So plain into these six eyes

And that is how you know that we are wise

Chorus

Go back by another way go back by another way go back by another way

Bridge

It’s true we all were glad 

that other king wasn’t half bad

He supplied our missing piece and the star reappeared in the east

Good Lord, wasn’t that wild how it settled right above The child?

Chorus

Back by another way, go back by another way go back by another way

Verse

We three as one woke up from a dream

Strange as it may seem

The dream we see the same with these six eyes

And that is how you know that we are wise

Chorus

Go back by another way go back by another way. Go back by another way go back by another way…

By another way (the three kings, feat. Drew + James Lanfer)

"Just a Father" is Joseph’s aching prayer in “Something for You” — a Christmas musical that centers the stories of the often overlooked, minor characters of the first Christmas. Joseph is central, of course, but not the center and aspects of his experience also hold clues to what it all may mean.

In this song, Joseph wrestles with doubts that have dogged him since he first entered stage right. Years after that first visit from a heavenly messenger, he faces the boy he agreed to raise — now twelve years old, confidently stepping away from his parents into the life that calls him, already wiser than any can fathom.

Part lament, part confession, part heartfelt pledge, “Just a Father” is a song of love and hope, dismay and frustration, and - finally - faith and faithfulness, all bound up together. 

Lyrics:

VERSE:

I would have called him Joseph. No one would ask us why.
But you asked me to trust you and a message from on high.

CHORUS:

It’s no small thing to ask. It’s no small thing I’ve done.
Believing better angels telling me that he’s the one.
This boy, this boy, this boy - like no other kind of son
And me, I’m just a father wondering, “Who will he become?”

VERSE:

“My father’s house,” he said and “didn’t you know” as if to shame
the both of us, like he’s through with us, who gave the boy his name.

CHORUS:

It’s no small thing to ask. It’s no small thing I’ve done.
Believing better angels telling me that he’s the one.
This boy, this boy, this boy - like no other kind of son
And me, I’m just a father wondering, “Who will he become?”

BRIDGE:

I know I share the blame. But what am I to do?
When here we are again - you asking me to trust in you
And in our boy - our gift from heaven. He always knows the way
And everything to do and exactly what to say.

CHORUS:

It’s no small thing to ask. It’s no small thing I’ve done.
Believing better angels telling me that he’s the one.
This boy, this boy, this boy - like no other kind of son

JOSEPH:
You know I wanna be faithful [but I’m still wondering] who will he become?


Just a father (Joseph)

“Something for you” is the opening number and title song to the new modern folk singer-songwriter Christmas musical, "Something for you."

This musical brings forward the minor characters in the first Christmas story — shepherds, innkeepers, fathers and mothers — those whose names we might know, or not. In any case, we rarely linger in their company, and can be left to wonder why the author even included them. "Something to See" also invites us deeper into previously unexamined moments with the more central characters - Joseph, Mary, the angel Gabriel - to help us grasp how it felt for them to be caught up in this great, grand, mysterious narrative.  

“Something for you” raises the central theme for the whole project:

👉 The heroes at center-stage aren’t the only ones whose stories can point the way to the universal and profound.

With acoustic warmth, lyrical honesty, and a modern folk sensibility, “Something to See” invites listeners to pause, look again, and discover what surprising truths are right there in plain view, waiting to be seen at the edges, between the lines, just below the surface of a story many of us thought we knew inside and out.

LYRICS:

VERSE

You might see me, if you see me, on the outside of the frame,
A kind of “also ran” - you might never know my name.
Maybe all you’ll know is I’m a husband or a wife,
A shepherd or a wise man, just living out my life.

CHORUS

There just might be a reason that all of us are here,
Even if we’re not the center of the story - nowhere near?
If you take a another look, take a moment, take two - 
You might see something that is true as true is true
You might see something for you.

VERSE

I know I’m not the hero. Not many of us are. 
But what if there’s a message written to us in the stars?
Any one of us might hold an illuminating piece
Of the puzzle, whether ours is the greatest or the least.

CHORUS

There just might be a reason that all of us are here,
Even if we’re not the center of the story - nowhere near?
If you take a another look, take a moment, take two - 
You might see something that is true as true is true
You might see something for you.

BRIDGE

You might think truth a fiction some people believe,
Candy that the masses mindlessly receive.
So be fearless with your questions.
Don’t hide it when you doubt.
And never fear to look.
Who knows what you’ll find out?

CHORUS

There just might be a reason that all of us are here,
Even if we’re not the center of the story - nowhere near?
If you take a another look, take a moment, take two - 
You might see something that is true as true is true
You might see something for you.

Something for you

✨ From the modern folk Christmas musical “Something for you”, FAITHFUL is a duet between Joseph and the angel Gabriel, as Joseph wrestles with doubt and heartbreak after learning of Mary’s pregnancy. Gabriel steps in with encouraging words, perspective on what can and can’t ever really be known, and a call to live a life of faith even when you don’t feel like it or understand it.

LYRICS:

CHORUS
		   
Joseph:	Faithful. Faithful. Faithful
		Is what I want to be and be called faithful.

VERSE

Joseph: 	I was so confused, I felt abused - that she would stray

Gabriel:	She never has, she’s always been true to you for all her days [she has been]

CHORUS

Gabriel: 	Faithful. Faithful. Faithful

Joseph:	Is what I want to be and be called faithful.

VERSE 

Joseph:	So you’re saying my - my first take…

Gabriel:	A big mistake!

Joseph:	How can I know?

Gabriel:	You can’t you won’t. What’s true is true. And all that counts is what you do. 
[So be]

CHORUS

Both: 		Faithful. Faithful. Faithful

Is what I want to be and be called faithful.

BRIDGE

Joseph:	But you’re just a dream!

Gabriel:	[Hah!] How real do I seem?

Joseph:	What about when I wake up?

Gabriel:	Pour the wine and drink it up!

CHORUS

Both: 		[And be] Faithful. Faithful. Faithful

Is what I want to be and be called faithful.

		Faithful. Faithful. Faithful

Is what I want to be and be called faithful.

Faithful (Joseph + Gabriel; feat. Drew Lanfer)

"...all who heard it were amazed." 

A raw, piano-driven ballad from “Something for you” — a modern folk Christmas musical giving voice to the minor characters (and minor moments) of the first Christmas story, “A fair question” is the song of one of the “all” who heard the shepherds tell their breathless story of what they had just witnessed - “and all who heard it were amazed.” Closer than any of us and yet, like us, left to grapple with doubt and faith and what’s real.

LYRICS

VERSE:

I didn’t see what they saw
All I’ve got to go on is,  
Same as you it’s just their story - 
This whole star and angel biz.
First one, and then a lot of them
The night sky bright as day,
Talking wonders ‘bout some baby
Born in Bethlehem. OK…

CHORUS

If I didn’t know these guys,
Didn’t hear and didn’t see
For myself what had come over them,
Would I still believe?
It’s a fair question - 
To be honest - I don’t know.
I feel for you, I really do,
As the distance grows.
It’s a fair question - 
I still believe?
If I were in your shoes - I might just leave. 

VERSE

A baby’s nothing special.
They show up all the time.
But this was no repeat, they said
It’s history when it rhymes
We saw him with our own eyes
Just like the angels said
Wrapped up and in a manger
His parents at his head.

CHORUS

If I didn’t know these guys,
Didn’t hear and didn’t see
For myself what had come over them,
Would I still believe?
It’s a fair question - 
To be honest - I don’t know.
I feel for you, I really do,
As the distance grows.
It’s a fair question - 
I still believe?
If I were in your shoes - I might just leave. 

BRIDGE

All who heard it were amazed.
I was too 
By that look in their faces - 
Could a lie do that to you?
What would be the reason
To make up such a tale
To sell it like a promise
If the whole thing’s doomed to fail?

CHORUS

If I didn’t know these guys,
Didn’t hear and didn’t see
For myself what had come over them,
Would I still believe?
It’s a fair question - 
To be honest - I don’t know.
I feel for you , I really do,
As the distance grows.
It’s a fair question - 
I still believe?
If I were in your shoes - I might just leave. 


A Fair Question

The opening words of the musical from our narrator, Luke (as in "the Gospel according to..."), over the piano introduction to the the opening number, the title track, "Something for you" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/something-for-you)

LUKE: Most excellent people! Many have tried to make sense of what has happened in our midst. And though I was not there myself, so that I might write an orderly account, I have carefully investigated everything and spoken at length with many witnesses - both those of whom you have no doubt heard and those easily missed and forgotten. Because their story, like your story and mine, is somehow part of this thing too.

###

“Something for you” is the opening number and title song to the new modern folk singer-songwriter Christmas musical, "Something for you."

This musical brings forward the minor characters in the first Christmas story — shepherds, innkeepers, fathers and mothers — those whose names we might know, or not. In any case, we rarely linger in their company, and can be left to wonder why the author even included them. "Something for you" also invites us deeper into previously unexamined moments with the more central characters - Joseph, Mary, the angel Gabriel - to help us grasp how it felt for them to be caught up in this great, grand, mysterious narrative.  

“Something for you” raises the central theme for the whole project:

👉 The heroes at center-stage aren’t the only ones whose stories can point the way to the universal and profound.

With acoustic warmth, lyrical honesty, and a modern folk sensibility, “Something for you” invites listeners to pause, look again, and discover what surprising truths are right there in plain view, waiting to be seen at the edges, between the lines, just below the surface of a story many of us thought we knew inside and out.

Something for you (Dialogue Track)

Dialogue leading into "You can believe - or not" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/you-can-believe-or-not), Gabriel's song from the "Something for you" modern folk Christmas musical project that focuses on the minor characters with major insights from the story of the first Christmas.

Text: 

It's a fair question. “How can this be?” Zechariah asks.

“Because I said so,” is the answer, more or less. “I am Gabriel.” the angel says, “And now you will be silent until what I have told you comes to pass, because you did not believe my words.”

For an honest question, Zechariah is stricken mute. 

Unlike the young woman, Mary, in Nazareth, not long after, when she hears an even more baffling prediction: “You will conceive and give birth to a son,” Gabriel says to her.”

“How will this be?” she asks, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel simply answers Mary’s question - explaining how the Holy Spirit would come upon her. “You are highly favored,” he says, “the Lord is with you!”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” is Mary’s answer. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” And maybe that’s the difference.

The angel leaves her - thinking what?... Believed or not believed. Received or not received. Even though he is Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Lord, what if he doesn’t fully understand either?

He knows what the message is, and who it’s for, and how to get it to them. But that doesn’t mean he knows why or what it means other than to say, 

“I am who I am 

and I have been sent to you 

to tell you this good news.”


You Can Believe - Or Not (Dialogue Track)

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

The lead in to "How can this be?" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/how-can-this-be) - Zechariah's song, grappling with news from the Angel Gabriel that he and his wife, Sarah, though they are old, will soon have a son, and name him John. From "Something for you" - the modern folk Christmas musical that centers on the minor characters with major insights, and the minor moments often overlooked in the lives of the major characters of a story we might have thought we already knew inside and out.

Text:

Our story begins with a message from Heaven.

During the reign of King Herod, in Judea, an old priest, called Zechariah, was in the temple, alone at the altar, burning incense, when an angel appeared to him.

He was terrified.

But the angel said: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; the Lord has heard your prayer. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. And, in the power of Elijah, he will prepare the way for the Lord.”

Now Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for this, for years and years. Yet they were now so very old, they had long since given up hope of it being fulfilled.

The angel’s promise seemed too impossible. Zechariah couldn’t help but ask,

 “How can this be?”

“Because I am Gabriel.” was the reply, “I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to tell you this good news.”

“And now you will be silent until your son is born and you give him his name, which is John.”

How can this be? (Dialogue Track)

From the “Something to See” modern folk Christmas musical project, "Don't Fly Apart" is the song of Simeon’ - the old priest in the temple, where Mary and Joseph bring their new baby to be dedicated. Part prophecy and warning, part blessing, Simeon speaks with tenderness and urgency: hold fast to each other, he urges the young couple, even as heartache await. A folk singer-songwriter meditation on the whispered answers few can hear, the inevitability of suffering, seeking, steadfast faith, and faithfulness to each other, come what may.

LYRICS:

VERSE

When you walked in, when you handed me the child
The stirring in my spirit - it was wild.
I knew at once he was the one
That my days would soon be done.

CHORUS

Blessings on you both - you know he is a gift
Though as he grows as as he goes, It will rift
Friend from friend, kin from kin.
Don’t you too fly apart.
You will need each other. Life can be a spear to the heart.
You will need each other. Don’t fly apart.

VERSE

It’s not easy to explain 
how I know the things I know
What to say or what to do, 
when to stay or when to go

CHORUS

Blessings on you both - you know he is a gift
But as he grows as as he goes, It will rift
Friend from friend, kin from kin.
Don’t you too fly apart.
You will need each other. Life can be a spear to the heart.
You will need each other. Don’t fly apart.

BRIDGE:

His way ahead will cause some to fall and some to rise
What he says and what he does - few will recognize
Who he is or why he’s here or what it all will mean
To those who believe what you and I have seen.

CHORUS

Blessings on you both - you know he is a gift
But as he grows as as he goes, It will rift
Friend from friend, kin from kin
Don’t you too fly apart.
You will need each other. Life can be a spear to the heart.
You will need each other. Don’t fly apart.

Don't Fly Apart (Simeon)

The dialogue track, narrative lead-in to "Don't Fly Apart" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/dont-fly-apart), Simeon's song from "Something for you", the modern folk Christmas musical featuring the minor characters with major insights into a story many of us thought we knew inside and out - the first Christmas.

Don't Fly Apart (Dialogue Track)

The the narrative lead-in to "Faithful" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/faithful), Joseph and Gabriel's song from "Something for you", the modern folk Christmas musical from Stefan Lanfer featuring the minor characters with major insights into a story many of us thought we knew inside and out - the first Christmas.

Text:

The other account of these events that is most often attributed to Matthew, the tax collector turned one-of-the-twelve, begins with a genealogy of Jesus, and it traces his line all the way to the first fathers of our faith - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - then on down through three times fourteen generations of fathers - including the kings David and Solomon, whose mother, Bathsheba, is not named but (lest the subtext be forgotten) referred to as having been Uriah’s wife. Some will note that Bathsheba is one of only four mothers that our male narrator decided merited mention, until we are introduced to the final father - Joseph - who is, at the moment we return to our narrative, pledged to be married to the fifth mother, a mother to be - Mary, whom Joseph has just discovered is pregnant with a child that he knows is not his. “By the Spirit” is how she explained her unexpected expecting, which was not something included in the law to which Joseph was famously faithful to. Yet, despite his confusion and sadness at learning this news, he still cared for Mary enough that he did not want to expose her to public disgrace. The honorable thing to do, it seemed to him, was to divorce her quietly. And he very likely would have, if an angel had not appeared to him in a dream…

Faithful (Dialogue Track)

 ✨ "What I know" is Elizabeth’s song to her cousin, Mary, from "Something for you" - the modern folk Christmas musical project that features the minor characters with major insights into a story many of us thought we knew inside and out the first Christmas. Both pregnant by a kind of miracle with children who will change the world, Elizabeth sings to Mary of believing what you feel in your bones and trusting what you know is real. 

LYRICS:

VERSE:

When I saw my happy cousin, right away I knew - 
There was something there about her unbelievable but true.
In her eyes  a certain something, in her step a certain spring
The word that came to me was “blessed.” I couldn’t help but sing:

CHORUS: 

The child in me - he more than moved, he more than kicked, he leapt.
In every way impossible, in every way except...
For what I see with my own eyes. For all the things I feel. 
The harder part would be to doubt when I know I know what's real
What I know, what I know, what I know, what I know.

VERSE:

“My husband’s just gone quiet - some kind of attack.
His voice just up and left him. Who knows? It might be back.
But while it’s gone, between us, cousin, let’s cut the man some slack.
Silence can be golden, or an aphrodisiac!

CHORUS: 

The child in me - he more than moved, he more than kicked, he leapt.
In every way impossible, in every way except...
For what I see with my own eyes. For all the things I feel. 
The harder part would be to doubt when I know I know what's real
What I know, what I know, what I know, what I know.

BRIDGE:

I couldn’t make this happen - all that’s happening to me,
Or believe it’s just an accident. No, this is destiny!
We’re part of it, you and me - this story being told.
Don’t ever let the doubters make you think that you’re too old.

CHORUS: 

The child in me - he more than moved, he more than kicked, he leapt.
In every way impossible, in every way except...
For what I see with my own eyes. For all the things I feel. 
The harder part would be to doubt when I know I know what's real
What I know, what I know, what I know, what I know.

What I know, what I know, what I know, what I know….

What I Know (Elizabeth; feat. Ashley Lanfer)

The narrative lead in to "What I know" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/what-i-know) from the "Something for you" modern folk Christmas musical project that features the minor characters with major insights into a story many of us thought we knew inside and out. "What I know" is Elizabeth's song to her cousin, Mary, when they meet both pregnant with children who will change the world, by a kind of miracle.

Text:

Soon after, Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant, as the Angel Gabriel had said she would. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “He has shown me his favor, and taken away my disgrace.” As was their custom, Elizabeth went into seclusion for five months - during which Mary, as we have heard, also became pregnant. When she did, Mary hurried into the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth and Zechariah. When Mary entered their home, Zechariah was still unable to speak. So Mary called out her own greeting and, hearing it, Elizabeth felt something unlike anything she had ever felt before.

What I know (Dialogue Track)

The narrative lead-in to "My Guys" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/my-guys) - King Herod's song to the three wise men in "Something for you" - the modern folk Christmas musical with book and score by Stefan Lanfer, featuring the minor characters with major insights into a story many of us thought we knew inside and out.

Text:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, three Magi - sometimes called wise men, sometimes kings - showed up in Jerusalem and got themselves an audience with the King - Herod.

“Where is he,” they asked Herod, “the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star and have come to worship him.”

When the King heard this he was disturbed. And when King Herod was disturbed, all Jerusalem was disturbed - he was that kind of king.

And so he called together all the local big shots - the chief priests and teachers of the law, and he asked them where this king was supposed to be born. “In Bethlehem,” they said, “that’s what the prophets said.”

Then Herod summoned the Magi back and told them that Bethlehem was the place, and he urged them, “to search carefully for the child. And as soon as you find him,” he added, “come straight back to me with your report, so that I too may go and worship him.”

Backstory on My Guys: https://stefanlanfer.substack.com/p/the-story-of-king-herods-song 

My Guys (Dialogue Track)

The narrative lead in to "A reason to sing" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/a-reason-to-sing) - the song of the innkeeper's wife from "Something for you", the modern acoustic folk musical retelling of the first Christmas through the eyes of the minor, and more often overlooked characters with major insights into a story we thought we knew inside and out.

Narration:

In those days, Caesar got curious to know just how big a deal he really was and he issued an order that everyone in the Roman world should go to their hometown for a census. 
So, Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem, which is called the City of David. 

By this point, Mary was, as they say, “Great with child,” which, given the distance, the terrain, and the detour they almost certainly took around Samaria, meant their journey took a lot longer than the four days it takes the unencumbered, travelling as the crow flies. 

So, they were not in the first, second, or even third wave of arrivals. 

And though Bethlehem was where Joseph was from,  no one from his family or extended family lived there any more -  

Leaving them to search for an inn with room to spare and running out of options…

A reason to sing (dialogue track)

The lead-in to "By another way" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/by-another-way?in=stefanlanfer/sets/something-for-you), the three wise men's song in "Something for you" - the modern folk Christmas musical featuring the minor characters with major insights into a story many of us thought we knew inside and out.

Text: 

Good news. And a place for you - if you want it - in the story. 

The shepherds didn’t waste any time. 

“Let’s go,” they said, and off they went to Bethlehem to see this thing the angels had chosen them to be the first see with their own eyes - Mary and Joseph and the baby, lying in the manger. 
Likewise, after meeting with King Herod, the Magi set off on their way, and the star they had seen before rose and went ahead of them again until it stopped over the place where the child was. 
Seeing the baby Jesus with his parents, the wise men were beside themselves. They bowed down and worshiped him, opening their treasures and giving gifts of gold and the precious oils - frankincense and myrrh. 

They would have returned to Herod then, as they had promised, to tell him all they had seen. 

Except that those three - all three as one - once again dreamed the very same dream.


By Another Way (Dialogue Track)

The lead in to "Good news" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/good-news) - the shepherds' song from "Something for you" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/sets/something-for-you), the modern folk musical retelling of the first Christmas story from the perspective of the minor characters with major insights into a tale many of us thought we knew inside and out.

Text:

While Joseph and Mary were there in the care of those innkeepers, who had found them an overflow space - not exactly fit for a king - the time came for the baby to be born, and Mary gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him up and laid him in a manger - the kind you find in a stable or barn, the wooden box that holds the hay or other food for the animals.

Meanwhile, nearby, out in the fields, a group of shepherds were the first to hear - tipped off by what they described to me as an angel of the Lord.

Good News (Dialogue Track)

"Good news" is the shepherds' song, the moment they hear from a host of angels announcing the birth of Jesus; from "Something for you" - a modern folk musical retelling of the first Christmas through the eyes of the minor characters with major insights into a story I thought I knew inside and out, and maybe you did too...

LYRICS 

VERSE
We were out in the fields,  keeping watch of our flocks by night
When an angel of the Lord appeared, all around us got blazing bright.

VERSE
Good Lord, were we are afraid. I bet you - you would be too
But “do not fear,” the angel said, “I bring good news to you.”

CHORUS
Peace on earth, good news, all the favor, great joy,
Born to you this day, the one and only baby boy.
God in heaven, the highest heaven, good news, all the glory.
And a place for you - if you want it - in the story.

VERSE
Then the one became many, a host of voices began to sing,
Praising God. We all knew we had to go to see this thing.

CHORUS
Peace on earth, good news, all the favor, great joy,
Born to you this day the one and only baby boy.
God in heaven, the highest heaven, good news, all the glory.
And a place for you - if you want it - in the story.

BRIDGE
“This will be a sign,” he said. “You’ll find the child in a manger bed,
“Underneath a star, very near to where we are.”

CHORUS
Peace on earth, good news, all the favor, great joy,
Born to you this day the one and only baby boy.
God in heaven, the highest heaven, good news, all the glory.
And a place for you - if you want it - in the story. Good news.


Good News (the shepherds)

The door is still open, but not very, or for long. “I love you but…won’t you come by?”

LYRICS:


Verse:

I saw your text. It’s not you it’s me - wanting you to come and see
This place that’s like my second home. In my father’s house, I’m never alone.

Verse:

Won’t you come by, won’t you come and see - this place where I”m completely me?
Won’t you come on by, won’t you come and see? You can take this leap with me.

Chorus:

‘cause if you won’t even try,
I love you, but…won’t you come by?
Won’t you come by? Won’t you come by?
Won’t you come by? Won’t you come by?
I love you but…won’t you come by?

Verse:

It’s not your thing, I get it I know. You’re wearing me out with telling me so.
I love you, but hear me say: I’m about to walk away.

Verse (reprise):

Won’t you come by, won’t you come and see - this place where I”m completely me?
Won’t you come by, won’t you come and see? You can take this leap with me.

Chorus:

But if you won’t even try,
I love you, but…won’t you come by?
Won’t you come on by? Won’t you come by?
Won’t you come on by? Won’t you come by?
I love you but…won’t you come by?

Won’t you come by? Won’t you come by?

Won't you come by?

The lead in to "Endure the night" - the angel's warning to flee the wrath of a vengeful king. "Joy will come one morning light," he sings, "but weeping will endure the night."

From "Something for you" (https://soundcloud.com/stefanlanfer/sets/something-for-you) - the modern folk musical project that revisits the accounts of the first Christmas through the eyes of the minor characters with major insights into a story we thought we knew inside and out.

Narrator: 

After the shepherds and wise men were gone, when the first family were alone again, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. King Herod had learned the Magi were not returning as they had promised and he was incensed. He gave orders to kill every baby boy up to two years old in Bethlehem and its vicinity. 

“Get up,” said the angel to Joseph, “take the child and and go. Escape to Egypt. And stay there until I tell you. For Herod is already searching for the child to kill him.”

So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and they left for Egypt, where they stayed for years and years, until the Angel returned with news that Herod had died. The cloud of his vengeance had passed and the weeping of parents who would not be comforted - had long since subsided.

And that is why the baby king, who is called the Son of God, would spend his first years as a refugee and an immigrant.

Endure the night (dialogue track)

Lyrics:
If I can speak in the tongues of men
Or like an angel sing
If there's no love in what I say,
It doesn't mean a thing.
It's only noise, a lot of noise, it's only noise, it's not the way.

If I know what the future holds
How every mystery unfolds
And how to move the mountains in my way.
If there's no love in all I know, it doesn't matter where I go.
I'm just a fool, I'm such a fool,  I am a fool, who's lost their way.

If I give all I have away
Even lay down my own life today
And people of importance say a word.
If there's no love in all I give, it doesn't matter how long I live,
There's nothing I gain.
It's just a show, good people know, it's all a show, a stupid game.

Love is patient
Love is kind
Love won't leave anyone behind
Love is always glad to know that you are well.
Love walks humbly and with grace.
Love never gets up in your face.
Keeps no record of the things that you got wrong.
Love always trusts, 
always hopes,
always protects,
Love perseveres.
When all the hope seems lost, then love appears.

Love is patient
Love is kind
Love won't leave anyone behind
Love is always glad to know that you are well.
Love walks humbly and with grace.
Love never gets up in your face.
Keeps no record of the things that you get wrong.
Love always trusts, 
always hopes,
always protects,
Love never fails.
Darkness may endure a night, but love prevails.

Words and music by Stefan Lanfer (c) 2021

Lyrics adapted from 1 Corinthians 13:1-8

Love Is

Stefan Lanfer writes piano-centered indie folk songs with the soul of a storyteller and the heart of a seeker. These are raw, unpolished recordings—work tapes that capture the emotion and depth of songs still becoming. With a vibe somewhere between Ben Folds and Cat Stevens, his music blends lyrical introspection, spiritual resonance, and quiet power. For fans who want to feel something and collaborators looking for raw material ready for their magic.

Stefan Lanfer

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