12/4/09 - Anonymous

If you have been around the music scene at all, your friends have probably shared this song with you one way or another sometime in the last few years.

There are so many theories where this song came from in the first place. Was it a good singer who was just joking around? Was it a guy sending an audition tape to Nashville to try to get his big break? Was it a priest singing to his congregation one December morning? People started popping up on youtube claiming that they were the singer of the viral version of "Oh Holy Night", also known as the Abominable Version.

In December, 2006, Jordan Green presented this song on his blog (Blog) with some theories of his own. Some people said it was real. Others a great joke. Most laughed at the utter greatness of the horribleness. One of the most telling theories out there, posted by a follower named Kella, analyzed it like this:

It has to be a joke. While the losing pitch would be hard to accomplish, there are some things this guy does that hint at his real ability to sing. For one thing, the song gets progressively funnier, as if it were planned. But there are three things that really give it away: 1. The vowels. People who have never sung before or have but have never been trained don't keep one constant vowel on long notes. For example the word "devine" an untrained singer might sing "de-vah-eeen" instead of leaving the dipthong for the very end, as a trained singer would. This guy's vowels are good. 2. His use of breath support is actually kind of impressive, with the exception of breathing in the middle of "devine" at the very end. He breathes silently and he goes long phrases without breathing. Even trained singers have a hard time with this song and not breathing in the middle of words. 3. Although his pitch sags on many of the notes, on the high ones, he gets up there. Even if he has to scream it and makes horrible sounds. Untrained singers, when they can't hit a note or don't think they can hit a note, they change the tune and sing a lower one. But this guy always hits the note, even the high note at the end, which second sopranos have a hard time with. Therefore, this guy can actually sing.

Well, a year after Jordan posted his blog, the true author of the song contacted him and gave him an hour interview. "Steve M." wished to remain semi-anonymous but didn't like seeing others take credit for his horrible work. You can see the interview Here While the interview is extensive and conclusive, it doesn't hurt the great rendition of the Abominable Oh Holy Night.

So, here is one of the worst renditions of any Christmas Carol you will ever hear. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.