Adult Border Collie with black and white coat in a snowy urban town square during daylight hours, surrounded by horse-drawn carriages and people in winter attire. 4:01
The Florin Street Band channel icon The Florin Street BandOriginal creator 27M views Save

A Christmas song that sounds Victorian

Leigh Haggerwood, a composer from London, wanted a Christmas song that sounded old, and a video that looked even older. more

He pictured 19th-century England, with snowy streets, street lanterns and people in period clothes. No major studio or producer would back it.

So he did it himself. He found session musicians to record the song and put all of his life savings into making it.

A man in a cap and vest plays an instrument while another person stands nearby holding something. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
A musician in a cap and vest plays his part in Victorian dress.

It opens soft, with voices chanting over street sounds of horses and children laughing. Then a single violin plays against sleigh bells far off.

Then Leigh sings, "Lanterns lighting up the town, peace on earth is all around." Snow is falling, and everyone on the street is dressed for a winter long ago. A woman holds a lit lantern.

A woman holds a lit lantern outdoors near other people while snow falls. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
A lantern glows in the falling snow, just as the first verse sings it.

He sings about carol singers gathering round and how much he wants to join them. Then the chorus does just that. "They sing a merry song, and we all sing along."

The second verse runs through the season, from mistletoe to wrapping presents and decorating the tree. But the carol singers are what make it for him. It's like the world is joining in, he sings, and the singers answer with "Noel, Noel, Noel."

A man in a cap and coat stands outdoors, gesturing with his hands, while other people stand nearby on the street. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Out on the street, a man in a cap and coat gestures as others gather near.

The middle part is a child's Christmas Eve in four short lines. "Christmas eve, still believe, so excited, can't sleep." Then morning comes with church bells, and the news every child hopes for arrives in three words. "And he's been."

From there it builds with sweeping strings and a brass band, and many voices take the last chorus. The piano slows it down for a choir's final "Noel, noel," and then only the street sounds are left.

Adult Border Collie with black and white coat in a snowy urban town square during daylight hours, surrounded by horse-drawn carriages and people in winter attire. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Leigh Haggerwood, a composer from London, wanted a Christmas song that sounded old, and a video that looked even older.

To one longtime fan, the record labels missed out. Others come back every year, some in the middle of summer. One fan, a Hindu child at a Christian school in India, sang it with the choir at a school Christmas program. For a song the big studios passed on, it gets sung a lot.

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