Yesterday, The CJN unveiled a list of Chanukah songs and parodies that came out this year (including a fantastic number from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings). Today, after doing some digging, I have come up with eight (or so) more tunes to keep you singing along for another eight Chanukah nights.
Night 1: Left to Right – Michelle Citrin
Not only does Michelle Citrin remind you about the order of lighting the Chanukah candles, she’s produced a great video in which people pass a candle outside the video frame to the awaiting hand of someone in the next shot. In the process, we get a glimpse of Chanukah traditions from around the world, and a look at the people who practise them. (One little quibble: Citrin actually lights her own candles right-to-left. Apparently, they wanted it to look right from the camera’s perspective.)
Night 2: Miracle – Matisyahu
Matisyahu is minding his own business skating in a rink when somebody accidentally knocks him out cold. When the bearded singer (this was back when he was still religious) comes to, he finds himself next to Antiochus who entices him to join him at a party. (Hey, it’s a dream!) But before he can agree, another Matisyahu, The Warrior, skates up to him and warns him to stay away from the king. The fantasy on ice continues with Matisyahu singing:
Eight is the number of infinity /
One more than what you know how to be /
And this is the light of festivity /
When your broken heart yearns to be free
Night 3: Chanukah Dance – Woody Guthrie
Now this one was a true (and extremely) pleasant surprise to me. I have read about the collaboration between the famed folk singer and Moses “Moe” Asch, which led to the recording of dozens of titles including This Land is Your Land. What I didn’t know was the following: “In 1942, Woody Guthrie moved to Brooklyn, and soon, through his mother-in-law (the renowned Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt), he became involved with the Coney Island Jewish Community. He wrote songs about Chanukah, about Jewish history and about spiritual life.” And that’s why we can enjoy Woody singing “the delightful Chanukah Dance (or as Woody pronounces the holiday, “Honeyky”.)
Night 4: The Latke Song – by Debbie Friedman
I dare you to listen to the song written by the late Debbie Friedman and not start tapping your toes as you imagine the world from the vantage point of a latke:
I am so mixed up that I cannot tell you/
I’m sitting in this blender turning brown/
I’ve made friends with the onions and the flour/
and the cook is scouting oil in the town…
I am a latke, I am a latke/
and I am waiting for Chanukah to come/
I am a latke, I am a latke/
and I am waiting for Chanukah to come…
This lively version is performed by Karen Schneiderman Naide for her 5th grade Sunday school students.
Night 5: Hanukkah, O Hanukkah – Barenaked Ladies and Swingin’ Dreidel – Kenny Ellis
And now for something more traditional (sort of). These lovely arrangements of beloved tunes are not to be missed. Steven Page and the Barenaked Ladies included the classic Hanukkah, O Hanukkah on their album Barenaked for the Holidays. And believe me, it does not sound like the token Jewish song. They threw everything they’ve got into it.
There’s certainly no shortage of people singing versions of Dreidel Dreidel. But nobody out there belts out a cooler performance than Kenny Ellis. Ellis and his big band swing through the tune and even manage to through in a few Hebrew lyrics – and the word groovy, too!
Night 6: Magen Boys Entertainment Presents Hip Hop Chanukah
Now you don’t see this everyday! A bunch of young Chabad Lubavitchers are standing on a downtown corner (in this case, at Toronto’s Yonge and Dundas streets) with a menorah. Okay, that’s not unusual. But then they are “confronted” by some guys. Another street youth comes to the Lubavitchers’ defence and raps:
This rabbi is just trying to light his me-NO-rah/
In Grade 2, when you had a teacher, I had a MO-rah/
I was always learning TO-rah/
Come take a smack at me/ Come take a crack at me
We knocked you like Judah and the Maccabees
But whaddaya know? It’s all a setup! And the Lubavitchers and the rappers all launch into a very lively (and well choreographed) dance – to the amazement of onlookers.
Night 7: Chanukah Jewish Rock of Ages
Why create your own Chanukah tune when you can cover the classics? Instead of “Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire” we’ve got people singing “Goodness, Gracious, Miracle of Oil.” Some guys with very high-pitched voices warble “Seeing the Light” to the strains of Stayin’ Alive. And somehow, Born to Be Wild has been morphed into “Jug of Pure Oil.” If the lyrics are sometimes a bit of a stretch, they are more than made up for by the infectious dancing and outrageous costumes.
Night 8: The Maccabeats – Burn
This is a version of British singer Ellie Goulding’s Burn by the male a cappella group, the Maccabeats. The video tells the story of a Jewish student being taunted by the local high school bullies. After he goes home to a warm Chanukah meal, he returns to school the next day ready to confront – actually, ignore – the bullies, and wear his kippah with pride.