The 25 Strangest days of Christmas Day 20 - They Sang Carols that Sounded Like Funeral Hymns

0:00 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to the Strange History podcast and Day twenty of our Victorian Christmas countdown the twenty five Strangest days of Christmas. We are in the home stretch. If you are still following along, you are the true hero of this saga. Just don't tell Santa Claus. Modern carols tend to be jolly, bright or aggressively retail in tone, but Victorian carols they were somber, minor key, slow tempo, the musical equivalent of staring thoughtfully out a frosted window while contemplating your mortal journey.

0:36 Speaker 1: Hymns like God Rest You Merry Gentlemen were originally eerie and meant for candlelit chapels. Victorians loved a little melancholy with their merriment. They believe joy was deepest when contrasted with reflection. In eighteen fifty five, a reviewer complained that a holiday church service felt more funeral than festivity, to which the minister responded, life and death both dine at Christmas. Victorian Christmas was never just cheerful, it was beautifully bittersweet.

1:10 Speaker 2: Sponsored by carols in minor holiday playlists, streaming, because sometimes the best way to feel cozy is to feel slightly haunted. Carols and minor available where all emotionally dramatic music is found.

1:22 Speaker 1: Tomorrow we turn the Christmas tree upside down, yes, really upside down, kind of like my brain. After making twenty five podcasts in a row, Merry Christmas, only five days to go.