Who's Carol? Talking about holiday music

[Torzelbaum]

It is inescapable this time of year so we may as well embrace it and talk about it here.

But what I really want to share is something that I have only just recently learned - "Carol of the Bells" is based on a Ukrainian folk chant called "Shchedryk".

Here is a video by Ukrainian musician and translator Helena Androsova / Eileen where she sings the original chant in both English and Ukrainian:

"Shchedryk" (Ukrainian: Щедрик, from Щедрий вечiр, "Bountiful Evening") is a Ukrainian shchedrivka, or New Year's song, known in English as "The Little Swallow". It was arranged by composer and teacher Mykola Leontovych in 1916, and tells a story of a swallow flying into a household to sing of wealth that will come with the following spring. "Shchedryk" was originally sung on the night of January 13, New Year's Eve in the Julian Calendar (December 31 Old Style), which is Shchedry Vechir.

 

[Violentvixen]

Oh man I loved that, thank you for sharing it!

 

[Tiers in Rain]

I love it. It was very cool learning and hearing that.

Here's a wildly different interpretation of Carol of the Bells from my favorite holiday album:

 

[Violentvixen]

I couldn't track down the recording last night, but this recording of Silent Night (and this whole album) was a tradition in my family. I much prefer the German and would often skip past Diana Ross' part in English but it's really fun to hear both now.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Oh man I loved that, thank you for sharing it!

I love it. It was very cool learning and hearing that

You're welcome. Glad you liked it.

 

[muteKi]

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Happy Thanksgiving Americans. Just letting everyone know there's until the end of the weekend for this thing I'm doing. I hope you want to take part and tell me all your favourite Christmas tunes in top 25 form.

Top 50 Winter Holiday Music Nomination Thread: ♪Holiday VoooOOOoooOOOte, Holiday VoooOOOooote♪

"Hehehe, hello, friends, it's me, the Christmas Creep! People have been warning you all about me this time of year. I get it. Christmas sucks all the air out of the room and there are other holidays going on within the next few months. Oh, don't misunderstand me, I do love Christmas...

talking-time.net

 

[Torzelbaum]

The Twelve Days of Christmas is both a traditional Christmas carol and a cumulative song whose earliest origins are unknown but it’s history can be traced since being published in 1780 in Mirth Without Mischief. The song details gifts given to the singer over the course of the twelve days of Christmas, with each day being given the same gifts as the previous days and in addition a new set of gifts. Each new gift is one more than the one introduced the day before. Cumulative songs like this are akin to a game as the song has relatively easy to remember lyrics and tune and there’s fun in adding to the song.

This is another song where I think the appeal is also why people bounce off of it and may find it annoying; it is, by intent, a very repetitive song. It’s supposed to be. This is one of those songs that is very easy to learn and sing a long with and it has two points where it is fun; the partridge in a pear tree (because you FINALLY get to the end of that part as the song goes on) and five golden rings

Here's a question for everyone - is the lyric five golden rings or five gold rings?

 

[Yimothy]

Golden, for sure. Not that I know the lyrics beyond that at all.

We’re at the time of year when I’ve heard Wham’s Last Christmas maybe a dozen times and I think it’s a great song. Not looking forward to the point where I’ve heard it a hundred times and I’m ready for it to disappear for another eleven months.

 

[Olli]

This was delightful: Wheatus - Christmas Dirtbag

 

[Torzelbaum]

Since I don't think these songs with stop-motion animation will show up in Johnny Unusual's Top 50 Holiday Music thread I'm just going to share them here. I think I shared both of them on TT 2.0 but not here. Both of the songs were sung by The Norman Luboff Choir with Norma Zimmer.

Suzy Snowflake:

This isn't a Christmas song per se but it is very much a winter song.

Hardrock, Coco and Joe:

This is definitely a Christmas song. As with many things from the 50s it has some problematic racial stuff going on which is even more complicated since it was created by a Chinese American man named Wah Chang*.

I have these songs on my list of favorites because they were shown on WGN TV every Christmas season so I have a lot of fond memories of watching them while on Christmas break.

Though [Frosty the Snowman] had an animated TV special in 1969, It was actually preceded 19 years prior by a TV animated short.

The UPA short that Johnny mentioned here was also shown along with the other two songs.