Bleak Midwinter: Christina Rossetti, Gustav Holst, and an “Indie Christmas”
Back in November, as the days grew colder and the year slipped towards winter, Irish folk musician Lisa O’Neill released her latest EP: The Wind Doesn’t Blow This Far Right. On it is a cover of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, the penultimate track, styled simply as ‘The Bleak Midwinter’.
It’s an interesting choice; the traditional carol, delivered with aching, mournful intention, could have sat uneasily alongside O’Neill’s sharp political storytelling. Christian piety is not always the best bed mate for liberal urgency. And yet the track forms a tender tributary to the EP’s rushing waters, feeding into the ancient, weatherworn sensibilities that underpin O’Neill’s primal take on alternative folk.
Irish folk musician Lisa O’Neill
She is hardly the first alternative act to cover the hymn. Indie shapeshifters Wolf Alice released a version in 2022, and Marika Hackman included a quivering cover on her festive EP Wonderland back in 2016. The same year saw Bombay Bicycle Club turn their hand to the traditional tune in a BBC Live Lounge set, and a Google search reveals more versions from Animal Collective, Fenne Lily, and Jamie Cullum. Even The Futureheads gave it a shot on their recent Christmas album (imaginatively titled Christmas), where the track’s image of the frozen infant saviour sits alongside versions of ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ and ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’.
There are Christmas songs that might be deemed cooler. Rough Trade offers a suggestion with their 2023 compilation Jangle Bells, which brings together a series of wry, idiosyncratic festive offerings from acts such as Ellie Bleach, Los Bitchos, and Black Midi. The Waitresses’ new wave anthem ‘Christmas Wrapping’ combines snark and drudgery with wit and wonder, whilst The Pretenders’ ‘2000 Miles’ venerates one of the season’s most critical emotions: yearning. And yet acts are drawn again and again to the bitter, glacial vision of hope that ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ presents.
In some ways, it’s easy to see why. It’s a beautiful carol, with a gentle central melody and plenty of opportunities for orchestral flourishes, if you’re so inclined. But the overtly religious scene that the lyrics cradle can nonetheless be a surprising choice for acts who are hardly catering to a congregation.
19th Century English poet Christina Rossetti
‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ was originally published as ‘A Christmas Carol’ by the 19th century poet Christina Rossetti, claiming musicality in its rhythms and original title even before being set to music. The hymn that we know today was composed by Gustav Holst at the start of the 20th century, finding a gilt setting for Rossetti’s words. The sense of tradition embedded in the carol speaks to the longing and regard for history that Christmas often brings, whether from a religious, pagan, or secular perspective. Christians reflect upon the biblical narrative that the celebration hinges upon, whilst those with more pagan sensibilities might prefer to reflect upon the changing of the seasons and the deep-rooted traditions around the winter solstice. Secular types often simply find themselves reflecting on the year that’s passed by, and the one stretching out ahead. Whatever position you approach Christmas from, it’s hard to avoid the reflective mood that settles at this time of year. A song like ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ sits cosily alongside this mentality, so steeped in history as it is.
English composer, arranger and teacher Gustav Holst
But the recent wave of alternative acts covering the track marks an innovative spirit too. From the gasping, shifting drum machines and campfire guitars of Wolf Alice’s version to the gossamer strength of Bombay Bicycle Club’s live iteration, each act is able to reshape tradition in their own style. What remains constant is the sense of quiet melancholy that the carol retains, which speaks to the fulcrum of modern indie Christmas: the sad Christmas song. Sufjan Stevens, arguably the king of indie Christmas, epitomises this with his two five-disc Christmas albums featuring tracks such as ‘That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!’ and ‘Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)’. Whilst saturated with the weight of tradition, ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ neatly slides into this trend. Listening, we sit up and remember: we’re not the only ones who have felt a little bit sad around Christmastime. There’s nothing new here.
What ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ does so fluently is pull taught the link between old traditions and new ones. It layers the past with the present, and Christian perspectives with secular ones. It balances hope with melancholy in a way that not many other Christmas songs do. I hope acts continue to cover it year after year, and that the carol continues to shift and shimmer in time, whilst always retaining the solidity of its roots.
Words: Edie McQueen
