Let's face it -- the best, most haunting Christmas Carols have a tinge of melancholy. They reach for a beauty that human beings can't touch.
"Balulalow" by Benjamin Britten, from his 1942 "Ceremony of Carols." Look, even if you can't stand the classics, just listen to this one. (It's short.) If the sheer beauty of the thing doesn't make your hair stand endwise, you must not have any hair.
The Coventry Carol, here performed gorgeously by Hayley Westenra. My favorite Christmas Carol ever -- and one of the most depressing songs ever written. If you go to Google Video and type in "Christmas Carol depressing," nearly all of the results will point to the Coventry Carol.
The most depressing opening to a children's Christmas show imaginable.
I always thought that "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" had a decidedly non-merry tone to it. This version is by some fellow named Ferras, previously unknown to me. His singing is far too pop-oriented and unrestrained for my classically-oriented tastes. But: He gets it.
I just discovered this. Gorgeous. Both the song and the singers. Gorgeous.
After "The Coventry Carol," this must be the most haunting of all Christmas songs, even though it's really an Easter song.
If you're curious about the background of this beautiful piece of music, I have just the video for you...
Happy Holidays! (I phrased it that way to depress our friends in the red states.)
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