“Riveting!” “Electrifying!” “Supremely Musical!” These are just a few superlatives that will never be used to describe Henrietta and Myrna Neudorf’s soporific, ostensibly live performance of the moving hymn “Go Tell It On The Mountain.” I don’t think I am overstating it when I suggest that this may be one of the worst musical performances I’ve seen, yet is so authentic as it wears you out with its awfulness that you realize it achieves a sort of excellence. I was so inspired by the counter-intuitive interpretation of such a joyful hymn as a dirge, that I myself felt the impulse to climb to the top of the highest mountain and scream, “Hey world! We don’t need Ambien anymore, we need Neudorf!”
Finding this video was, for me, a kind of holy grail of kitsch, and though the performance itself could hardly be described as “energetic”— rather more like a wispy apparition or something you only half remember—Myrna and Henrietta have gotten enough traction to inspire many parody videos. That seems redundant until you remember the Neudorf’s were dead serious; so much so they sing like they’re dead. Take a moment to kick it Neudorf-style and then tell a friend and they can tell someone and so on and so on…Before you know it, Henrietta and Myrna could be sleep-singing their way to a top-ten hit. Let the Night of the Living Neudorfs begin.
Sam Reynolds
December 12, 2015 at 3:05 pmI don’t see YOU up there singing it any better… at least they had the courage to get up and sing… even if they lacked energy I’m sure their motivation was sincere… get a life…
Cherie
July 8, 2019 at 2:19 amHenrietta’s name is really Enriquetta. Also, I love this video so much!
Cherie
July 8, 2019 at 2:21 amHenrietta’s name is actually Enriquetta.
David Munk
September 9, 2019 at 11:29 amThank you Cherie…so noted.
Paul
December 13, 2019 at 10:35 pmShe and Myrna have a Facebookpagina. They look happy, even Myrna seems to have found happiness in her life
David Munk
January 25, 2020 at 4:02 amThanks for the lead. I’ll check it out. What is a Facebookpagina? Do you have to see a gynecologist for that? LOL