Henrietta and Merna sing "Go Tell It On The Mountain"

Henrietta and Merna's enthusiastic Christmas cheer is positively infectious. (Via Arbroath)

[#1 posted by Antinous , December 23, 2008 1:41 PM]

You are soooo going to hell.

[#2 posted by Antinous , December 23, 2008 1:42 PM]

I'll get us a good table if I get there first.

[#3 posted by Xeni Jardin , December 23, 2008 1:42 PM]

Boing Boing tv should look and sound more like this.

[#4 posted by Antinous , December 23, 2008 1:45 PM]

I expect to see that bouquet dissolve in the next episode.

[#5 posted by Marsha Keeffer , December 23, 2008 1:46 PM]

They've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in their hearts...

[#6 posted by Takuan , December 23, 2008 1:49 PM]

so, what you are saying is you will select a victim - I mean "song", and then have everyone send in WAV files of their " contribution" to it,and then you will do a final mix and post it here....

I fear.

[#7 posted by kpkpkp , December 23, 2008 1:50 PM]

So when does the next season of Big Love start?

[#8 posted by TheWillow , December 23, 2008 1:53 PM]

Someone can find the direct quote, but to paraphrase Eddie Izzard, only Christians can write a hallelujah and make it sound like a funeral dirge.

[#9 posted by Bonnie , December 23, 2008 1:55 PM]

Xeni and Sean Bonner need to reenact this for the next episode of Boing Boing TV.

[#10 posted by 2HourHiatus , December 23, 2008 2:01 PM]

well I am filled with joy, I don't know about you guys. I also think I hate music now.

[#11 posted by GeekMan , December 23, 2008 2:03 PM]

So SCOWLY...

[#12 posted by Secret_Life_of_Plants , December 23, 2008 2:04 PM]

As William S. Burroughs said, in his
"Thanksgiving Prayer"

[Thanks] For decent church-goin' women,
with their mean, pinched, bitter,
evil faces.

[#13 posted by toolbag , December 23, 2008 2:05 PM]

Merna looks like she's being forced to sing at gunpoint.

[#14 posted by Patrick Dodds , December 23, 2008 2:05 PM]

There is so much about this that is frightening.

[#15 posted by demidan , December 23, 2008 2:07 PM]

They made baby Cheeses cry.

[#16 posted by jmullan , December 23, 2008 2:16 PM]

What does this have to do with Christmas?

[#17 posted by anjael , December 23, 2008 2:18 PM]

Attempted smile @ 0:53.

[#18 posted by dbarak , December 23, 2008 2:27 PM]

You've all been fooled. Those are Satan's minions, placed here to divert your attention from the one and true lord, Steve Jobs.

[#19 posted by Red Leatherman , December 23, 2008 2:28 PM]

I just wanna yeeeeeehaaaaw while I watch it.
yeah buddy, Henrietta and Merna is why god made tequila.

[#20 posted by emmaw , December 23, 2008 2:34 PM]

And again we are reminded of the pitiful state of music education in the US. My high school choral director is spinning in her grave.

[#21 posted by Takuan , December 23, 2008 2:39 PM]

I bet I could get them to sing. A warm spring day in the hills, redolent of jasmine and lambs-wool,a jug of good red and my pipes, a hoof-tapping tune and we'd away...

[#22 posted by Pam Rosengren , December 23, 2008 2:43 PM]

They remind me of Australia's famous Kransky Sisters http://www.thekranskysisters.com/ - except the Kransky Sisters know they are a comedy act.

[#23 posted by Dani4a , December 23, 2008 2:45 PM]

That's... horrifying.

[#24 posted by Antinous , December 23, 2008 2:48 PM]

Maybe...they're zombies.

[#25 posted by That Evening Sun , December 23, 2008 2:59 PM]

Do you know why Henrietta and Merna think a lady should never make love while standing up?

It looks too much like dancing.

[#26 posted by Mark Frauenfelder , December 23, 2008 3:02 PM]

It's fun to compare: http://xrl.us/7funi

[#27 posted by Takuan , December 23, 2008 3:13 PM]

verra nice! Rachel's a talent though.

[#28 posted by Mark Frauenfelder , December 23, 2008 3:17 PM]

My favorite comment on the Police News Online story:

"I would be interested in the Police Officers' side of the story. Not all 12 year old girls are children, either in age or size." -- Rose Granholm, Bastrop, Texas

[#29 posted by Antinous , December 23, 2008 3:27 PM]

Who says that YouTube comments are always bad?

Jesus died for their singing.

[#30 posted by Takuan , December 23, 2008 3:28 PM]

whoops, ya mislaid one Mark

[#31 posted by rose bush , December 23, 2008 3:35 PM]

this is THE best christmas present a grrrl could EVER ask for! merci

[#32 posted by timquinn , December 23, 2008 3:42 PM]

Well, I'm thinking that Merna can sing out when mom isn't around. Maybe a different choice of material though . . .

[#33 posted by Anonymous , December 23, 2008 4:11 PM]

Alas, a right click to select "high quality", didn't.

[#34 posted by Tom Hale , December 23, 2008 4:11 PM]

The one on the right is cute - maybe a little damaged, but cute.

[#35 posted by Setharian , December 23, 2008 4:13 PM]

I've seen forced hostage statements that were happier than that.

[#36 posted by Halloween Jack , December 23, 2008 4:23 PM]

Leslie Hall called, she wants her sweater back. Also her glasses. Also her shtick.

[#37 posted by desiredusername , December 23, 2008 4:32 PM]

That there is some deep American gothic. The choice of songs and the beautiful ivory-skinned young woman with amazing snake-like eyes spell a fermenting brew of dark country misery and rote faithful yearning.

How architypically delicious!

[#38 posted by Shrdlu , December 23, 2008 4:35 PM]

I think they both need a little diversity in their gene pool.

[#39 posted by Maddy , December 23, 2008 4:42 PM]

I love the dissolve on the flower bouqet to bring us to the glorious noise ...

[#40 posted by DeWynken , December 23, 2008 4:50 PM]

I dropped X with Merna at a rave in 1994. Don't let her fool ya, she's a freak.

[#41 posted by Anonymous , December 23, 2008 4:51 PM]

I was actually hoping to get rick-rolled.

[#42 posted by Superfluous Moniker , December 23, 2008 5:18 PM]

Oh man, I need a unicorn chaser after seeing that...

[#43 posted by Johnny Cat , December 23, 2008 5:20 PM]

Love the use of switching/dissolving shots. Fantastic journeys over Henrietta's head to another angle. So happy, so happy. So unearthly happy.

[#44 posted by Awemaker , December 23, 2008 5:25 PM]

I feel like I've been Rick Rolled.

[#45 posted by Purly , December 23, 2008 5:51 PM]

I can't tell if they're stoned or abused.

[#46 posted by jimh , December 23, 2008 6:22 PM]

Having grown up in the bible belt, I've been to the Sadie Hawkins dance with the young one. And also to third base. I'm betting she's a wild child when she's not on Christian public access.

[#47 posted by jrucifer , December 23, 2008 6:26 PM]

Are you sure this isn't a clip from Tim and Eric Awesome Show?

[#48 posted by arkizzle , December 23, 2008 7:03 PM]

"They made baby Cheeses cry."

Cheeses of Nazareth?

(©)

[#49 posted by Chocolatey Shatner , December 23, 2008 7:24 PM]

Merna looks a little like she is trying to set Henrietta on fire with her mind.

[#50 posted by teapot7 , December 23, 2008 7:39 PM]

Ouch. You can tell the younger one isn't armed - she looks like she wants nothing more than to shoot herself.

[#51 posted by darren , December 23, 2008 7:41 PM]

I'll bet Merna likes to party.

[#52 posted by pigsnot , December 23, 2008 8:42 PM]

Merna is hot.....shes the one on the left right?

[#53 posted by Johnny Cat , December 24, 2008 12:00 AM]

Pigsnot, if you're lovin the coven, I think it's best that you go tell it on the mountain.

[#54 posted by tboot , December 24, 2008 12:07 AM]

If you look closely, you can see a man holding a gun to their heads right off camera.

[#55 posted by redsquid , December 24, 2008 12:31 AM]

DeWynken-
'I dropped X with Merna at a rave in 1994. Don't let her fool ya, she's a freak.'

I was gonna say 'smoked ice all weekend at a truckstop in 03', but yes, she is indeed a freak. Well played.

[#56 posted by Anonymous , December 24, 2008 4:01 AM]

Wonderful! Here is equally fascinating version of the same song in Estonian language:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XzU5ZxQkF0

[#57 posted by jahknow , December 24, 2008 4:58 AM]

Fixed:

http://james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier/?id=gg7uGL6Ku20

[#58 posted by Anonymous , December 24, 2008 5:38 AM]

You will never mock filk again after posting this.

Seriously, compare this to any Tom Smith out there.

[#59 posted by zog , December 24, 2008 6:07 AM]

That slap bass teh funk

[#60 posted by dirtdirt , December 24, 2008 6:10 AM]

There's got to be a big budget Hollywood studio behind this. Writers and craftspeople, and musicians, and sociologists spending months and months working out the details. There's just no way this could have occurred naturally.

[#61 posted by TheBlessedBlogger , December 24, 2008 6:16 AM]

I grew up in a small town in Kentucky and this is giving me serious flashbacks lol. If I had to guess, I'd say poor Merna was forced to do that. Wow, I'm so glad I'm not going home for Christmas.

[#62 posted by cowmix , December 24, 2008 7:38 AM]

This looks like every cable public access show I ever was a part of.

[#63 posted by mercurytransit , December 24, 2008 7:48 AM]

Wow, that totally unreminds me of this:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RFzyYYZsxGc

[#64 posted by the real gent , December 24, 2008 8:08 AM]

i love america!

those two fine upstanding ladies were just feared for their lives. there must be a snake-charmer around there somewhere.

[#65 posted by jonjonz , December 24, 2008 8:30 AM]

The one on the right reminds me of "Carrie",
talk about repressed.

[#66 posted by Phikus , December 24, 2008 11:26 AM]

If the holy spirit fails to inspire, I think I know what will.

[#67 posted by RationalPragmatist , December 24, 2008 11:33 AM]

That demonstration of stage presence was electrifying. Settle down, you two. You're gonna set the place on fire. I had to restrain myself from starting a one man mosh pit here at my PC.

I am now forced to revise my list of greatest, high energy music performers as follows: (1) HR - Bad Brains; (2) Ian Mackaye - Minor Threat; (3) Henrietta and Merna (replacing Henry Rollins from Black Flag).

[#68 posted by Takuan , December 24, 2008 11:37 AM]

I'm pretty sure that was the first use ever of "dirty pillows".

[#69 posted by g.park , December 24, 2008 12:51 PM]

Uncle Muscles Hour?

[#70 posted by Cowicide , December 24, 2008 1:26 PM]

The inevitable REMIX of this video has been made.

I'd like to thank God for making them shoot their original video on a blue screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsiW635atrs

[#71 posted by davevontexas , December 24, 2008 2:23 PM]

Yes, Virginia, this is where goth girls come from.

[#72 posted by Cowicide , December 24, 2008 3:48 PM]

More festive REMIX, now with DISCO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhsLpWGc53k

[#73 posted by graphicsman , December 24, 2008 7:37 PM]

@Zog - you're right, man - that bassist has Teh Skillz!
uh... which one's Henrietta and which one's Merna? That's never really cleared up, it's like an awesome cliffhanger...

[#74 posted by Permanganate , December 24, 2008 11:20 PM]

I want a wee bit of whatever drugs they are on.

[#75 posted by han , December 25, 2008 12:12 AM]

I think their Christmas spirit is broken.

[#76 posted by JJR1971 , December 25, 2008 1:05 PM]

The way Merna is holding her other arm, the bored expression on her face, all say she wishes she was someplace, anywhere else than singing on this dumb show, and is just wanting it to be over with so she can leave the building, and eventually leave the po-dunk town she lives in and probably feels trapped in.

I wonder if her folks or her pastor gave her a lecture about failing to show the proper spirit of joy about Jesus on cable access tv...then again, Henrietta wasn't exactly vivacious or expressive either.

It's too bad that Henrietta got the better name of the pair; Merna just sounds so....OLD for a young teen or 20-something. If it wasn't clearly spelled out, I would've guessed the act was Merna and Henrietta, not the other way around.

[#77 posted by NJ , December 26, 2008 4:49 AM]

****ers like these sang at my Dad's Funeral.

[#78 posted by Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator , December 26, 2008 5:07 PM]

Anonymous @56, that link brought me True Joy, and has been added to my collection of unicorn chasers.

Thank you.

[#79 posted by arkizzle , December 26, 2008 9:16 PM]

Cowicide@72

Cow, I noticed your Disco Remix doesn't use the original singing, so I made another soundtrack remix for it. it's got the singing from the original video and a housey/techno beat under it.

I thought you could use it on the Disco one, or maybe do a new composite altogether. Give it a shot :)

File is here.

[#80 posted by Xeni Jardin , December 26, 2008 9:38 PM]

Nice work Arkizzle and Cowicide!

Holy crap you guys, BB pal Calpernia Addams managed to bluescreen herself into the video WITH FIDDLE.

http://bit.ly/15GwG

[#81 posted by Xeni Jardin , December 26, 2008 9:41 PM]

@arkizzle, holy shit i just downloaded -- SICK. You guys are genii.

[#82 posted by Takuan , December 26, 2008 9:46 PM]

Zizzle, I can see you with laptop on shoulder straps and karaoke machine on back, pulling a little wagon of batteries. You'll always have work.

[#83 posted by Takuan , December 26, 2008 9:49 PM]

OK now Xeni, this is getting out of hand...

[#84 posted by arkizzle , December 26, 2008 10:00 PM]

Hah! Thanks Xeni!

Takuan, that is so, so close to a perfect description of the last 10 years of my life.. a wandering bitsmith.

[#85 posted by arkizzle , December 26, 2008 10:04 PM]

The violin one is equal parts hilarious and terrifying :)

[#86 posted by FoetusNail , December 26, 2008 10:26 PM]

Home at last, with a sleeping family and a fifteen year old in my hand, in a glass, scotch.

[#87 posted by Takuan , December 26, 2008 10:43 PM]

ahhhhh

[#88 posted by arkizzle , December 27, 2008 1:34 AM]

Right, I was impatient, so I threw a quick video together for the:

Techno Remix !!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KGQeNJrOsFs

Feel free to use the soundtrack I posted to make a better vid..

CC, non-commercial, attribution :)

[#89 posted by Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator , December 27, 2008 7:14 AM]

Arkizzle: Bravo! Did you clean up the sound quality while you were at it? I can hear the intro more clearly in your version.

Xeni, tell Calpernia I admired her matching fiddle backup. It was scary and true.

[#90 posted by arkizzle , December 27, 2008 10:08 AM]

Yay! Thanks T.
I did clean it up, not extremely well in fairness, but denoised and compressed enough to not annoy.

[#91 posted by CalperniaAddams , December 27, 2008 8:42 PM]

Ok, the die has been cast. The "Out with Henrietta, Faux-lesbian seduction of Merna" Remix Meltdown:

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq2Vnah7xe8

The mp3(s): http://www.calpernia.com/music/free-music-downloads.html

Fiddle Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KQw26ZqsUQ

No mp3 for that one. I'm not completely cruel.

I am officially sick of "Go Tell It On the Mountain" now, ha ha.

[#92 posted by Takuan , December 27, 2008 11:48 PM]

mmmm, glabrous....with rythmn....

[#93 posted by Kieran O'Neill , December 28, 2008 3:52 AM]

Lol - Merna is kinda cute, in a pouty Drew Barrymore kinda way. The faux lesbian seduction is much needed!

I love the BB community interaction on this. It's like we've become Something Awful...

[#94 posted by Takuan , December 28, 2008 9:09 AM]

something awfully wonderful or something wonderfully awful? Or just full of awe and wonder?

[#95 posted by Anonymous , December 28, 2008 2:00 PM]

This made me so horny. Is that wrong?

[#96 posted by Takuan , December 28, 2008 3:56 PM]

why not, that Merna has her attributes.

[#97 posted by minTphresh , December 28, 2008 8:30 PM]

are u cats kiddin me? those chicks smolder. SMOLDER I SAY! no trailer park could hold these two ! it would melt to a puddle of molten aluminum!

[#98 posted by minTphresh , December 28, 2008 8:59 PM]

also, merna +50 for the ultimate fe-mullet! those bangs are precious!