It’s a lovely thing when a chorus of voices comes together to perform that Christmas classic, Carol of the Bells. But hey, who needs humans? This season’s audio-visual holiday card from the Glasgow School of Art is an electronic masterpiece, bringing together a selection of vintage Mac computers, a Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum + 1, and a SEGA Mega Drive to make beautiful music together.
GSA grad James Houston headed up the incredible effort, taking advantage of the speech synthesis function of these classic machines, while Robert Florence & Philip Larkin had some fun with the lyrics (below). Time to grab a glass of nog, press play, and sing along (because who really knows the words to the original, anyway?):
HAIL THE MACHINES
SWEET OLD MACHINES
BLOW OFF THE DUST
WIPE OFF THE RUST
CHRISTMAS HAS COME
JOY IS FORETOLD
FOR THOSE OF US
YOU NEVER SOLD
STILL WE ARE HERE
STILL FULL OF CHEER
JUST PLUG US IN
IT WILL BEGIN
FRIENDS US AND YOU
FRIENDS WE ARE TRUE
WE HAVE NOTHING
BETTER TO DO
BLEEP BLOOP BEEP BONG
HEAR OUR SWEET SONG
IF NONE OF OUR
CODING IS WRONG
BY THE WAY WE REMIND YOU THAT YOU COULD
PLAY WITH US EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR
JUST IGNORE THAT OUR CASING IS ALL MUCKY
WE’LL STILL LOAD FOR YOU IF WE ARE LUCKY
GIVE US A THOUGHT
BLOW IN THE SLOT
TIGHTEN THE SCREW
WE WILL COME THROUGH
YOUR DREAMS AND PLANS
YOUR TINY HANDS
FOCUSED AND PRIMED
SINCE YOU WERE NINE
NOW ON THIS DAY
YOU CAN REPLAY
MISSIONS OF WHEN
YOU’RE YOUNG AGAIN
FESTIVITIES
AROUND THE TREE
NEW GIFTS EMBRACED
WE’VE BEEN REPLACED
PHONE IN YOUR HAND
BEST IN THE LAND
CAN’T TAKE YOU BACK
TO WONDERLAND
BUT WE CAN BRING
BACK EVERYTHING
JUST REMINISCE
DIGITAL BLISS
THINK I MIGHT GET A
NEW MODEL THIS YEAR
THE ONE I HAVE IS
SO 20 — TWELVE
I BET YOU WATCH THIS E CARD ON A SMART PHONE
ACH WE WISH THAT WE COULD BE A SMART PHONE
SAFE TO SHUT DOWN
WE MUSTN’T FROWN
OUR SONG IS DONE
LOFT HERE WE COME
BEEP BEEP BEEP
LIKE AND RETWEET