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

0:03 Speaker 1: Day twenty of our Victorian Christmas countdown the twenty five

0:07 Speaker 1: Strangest days of Christmas. We are in the home stretch.

0:10 Speaker 1: If you are still following along, you are the true

0:13 Speaker 1: hero of this saga. Just don't tell Santa Claus. Modern

0:18 Speaker 1: carols tend to be jolly, bright or aggressively retail in tone,

0:22 Speaker 1: but Victorian carols they were somber, minor key, slow tempo,

0:29 Speaker 1: the musical equivalent of staring thoughtfully out a frosted window

0:33 Speaker 1: while contemplating your mortal journey. Hymns like God Rest You

0:37 Speaker 1: Merry Gentlemen were originally eerie and meant for candlelit chapels.

0:43 Speaker 1: Victorians loved a little melancholy with their merriment. They believe

0:47 Speaker 1: joy was deepest when contrasted with reflection. In eighteen fifty five,

0:53 Speaker 1: a reviewer complained that a holiday church service felt more

0:57 Speaker 1: funeral than festivity, to which the minister responded, life and

1:02 Speaker 1: death both dine at Christmas. Victorian Christmas was never just cheerful,

1:07 Speaker 1: it was beautifully bittersweet.

1:10 Speaker 2: Sponsored by carols in minor holiday playlists, streaming, because sometimes

1:14 Speaker 2: the best way to feel cozy is to feel slightly haunted.

1:17 Speaker 2: 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

1:26 Speaker 1: upside down, kind of like my brain. After making twenty

1:29 Speaker 1: five podcasts in a row, Merry Christmas, only five days

1:33 Speaker 1: to go.