Red snow? A most unexpected modern standard for the holidays

NEW YORK — There is no mention of holiday or Christmas in lyrics to the song, “White Winter Hymnal.” Or winter, for that matter. The story of “White Winter Hymnal” is a reminder of how songs can take journeys in the public consciousness that even their composers can’t fathom. Pentatonix’s video of “White Winter Hymnal” has been seen more than 96 million times on YouTube; F leet Foxes’ own video, a Claymation scene made by Robin’s brother, Sean, has 23 million views. In some respects, the song changed both context and ownership: Google “‘White Winter Hymnal’ lyrics” and it’s described as “a Pentatonix song.” The performance by a vocal band with a young following led to its notice by choir directors around the world. Then you listen closely to the lyrics: “I was following the pack, all swallowed in their coats with scarves of red tied round their throats to keep their little heads from fallin’ in the snow, and I turned ‘round and there you go, and Michael you would fall and turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime.” One theory on the Internet is that “White Winter Hymnal” is about decapitation, with the red scarf a supposed reference to the French Revolution.