music

The Chanukah Playlist

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Thank you to everyone who contributed to the list.  It’s a sum total of just under 1 hour of music:

DJew Hava Nagila – I couldn’t resist this hopped up version, even though I’ve never understood where Hava Nagila comes from or what it has to do with anything.

Mi Shema’amin by Benny Friedman – although not strictly a Chanukah song, the theme is close enough. And he’s got a great voice. Although someone else is singing in the video linked, and I’m not sure who.

Holiday Party by Pella Productions – It starts with Chanukah. Good enough. (Anyone know who these guys are?)

Candlelight by the Maccabeats

Maoz Tsur by PS22 – Another ‘couldn’t resist.’ They sound great. And I admire them for learning all the words right (although they seem to have chilukei deyos over whether it’s “yeshuati” or “yeshuasi”). I snipped off that inexplicable last part, obviously.

Chanukah track from A Gut Yohr by Sholom Jacobs – One of my favorite CDs for sentimental purposes. I don’t know why they do Chanukah with a chassidish havara, but I forgive them for the sake of my playlist.

Light the Way by Moshav Band – Not obviously a Chanukah song, but there’s a light theme thing going and it mentions Jewish continuity.

Candle in the Night – Seems to be an original song. No idea who.

Miracle by Matisyahu

Latke Man by the Yule Logs – on their album You Ruined Christmas. Weird, but I’m not turning down a song. I can’t find this on YouTube, alas. However, it’s a free download. Now why are a bunch of Christians writing us a Chanukah song and then giving it to us for free? What are we, charity cases? (Answer: yes.)

Chanukah Rights! by Six13

One Day by Matisyahu – It’s in the general theme.

Happy Hanukkah by Matisyahu – This man has contributed disproportionately to my playlist, forcing me to put it on shuffle. God bless him.

Eight Nights by StandFour

Rock of Ages – Presented by Aish.com

Haneirot Halalu by Six13 – Can it be? An original, non-parody song? A blessing on their heads!

Yesh Tikvah by Benny Friedman – In the general theme of things, plus I love this song and it’s totally party material. (It also probably wins the prize for most mismatched song and music video.)

Na Nach by Moshe Levi – Totally irrelevant, but a great song nonetheless. (Sorry, video is lousy. I can’t find the studio recording on YouTube.)

Shades of Grey has a whole bunch more music videos listed here that I should probably sift through. Some of them look interesting. But some are just more pop parodies. I tire of those.

Happy Chanukah! 

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It’s Good (& It’s Not)

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What’s good: The Maccabeats Chanuka video. I would love to know when they’re scheduling the next latke-flipping clinic. It’s a skill I’ve always wanted, and I think I can catch on faster than Uri.

..and while I was digging around on their channel, I found their Rosh Hashana video. Hey, don’t I merit a blogger heads-up any more? I still get a few hits! Go over there and watch it a few thousand times so they see that it’s worth doing a little publicity. It’s probably their best video to date, so it shouldn’t be hard. And meanwhile, I guess I’ll have to subscribe to their channel.

What’s not so good: in response to the overload of Christmas music I’ve been subject to at this time of year, I checked to see if Pandora had a Hanukkah station. They do. Unfortunately, it’s not stocked with the Maccabeats or even senatorial contributions. It’s not really an improvement as far as seasonal music goes. But then I wondered: if you were to compile a Chanukah playlist that doesn’t make you want to tear your ears off, what songs would you put on it? I’m not sure we have enough songs to populate a list, even if we were to (grudgingly) make room for a Hava Nagila remix.

Me Party: Anthem for the Single

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“…Haven’t you heard?

One is the new two!”

Thanks Relarela for this video. This song is bound to become a hit among the lacking-a-significant-other crowd. Crank up the music and let’s have a Me Party! (Warning: both women and pigs singing.)

…There are times when I wish I was with you

There are days when all this girl can see is a world that’s made for two

At times like this I feel all alone and feel like nobody cares

But I only have to call my name – and darling I’ll be there!

Really, it’s about time the furry puppet crowd advanced beyond this rather plaintive song about being alone.

Shidduch Playlist

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I found this post languishing at the bottom of my drafts folder. I think I decided against posting it because I was afraid the response would involve everyone’s favorite lovelorn pop culture songs. But it seemed a pity to delete after all the work put in, so people: no lovelorn pop culture songs. In fact, no lovelorn songs at all.

The idea of a playlist was inspired by the mostly inappropriate responses to the Shidduch Musical challenge. Musical songs were supposed to be about the dating itself, or songs one could burst out into in one’s dating lifetime, not a musical sigh over one’s single/dating/relationship status. But if there was to be a soundtrack for the shidduch dating experience, what songs would be in it?

Here’s my list. Hit play and I’ll explain my song choice. (Warning: includes religious, Disney, folk, and rock music being sung by men, women, and possibly children)

To represent the conviction we all have that out there, somewhere, is our bashert, we have “There’s Gotta Be Someone,” by Nickelback a suggestion by a commenter named Pinny.

Of course, you couldn’t talk about shidduch dating without paying homage to the song from Fiddler on the Roof, so there it is. But more relevant, perhaps, is Abie Rotenberg’s classic “The Shadchan.”

But even after all that, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2 (courtesy of Harryer.)

At this point you have your choice: are you optimistic? Then try “Tomorrow” from Annie. Are you despairing? That’s why I included the Mission Impossible theme. And if you’re somewhere in between, well, “There Can Be Miracles” from Prince of Egypt.

Since it pays to be hopeful, I ended on a cheerful note, with Gad Elbaz’s “Give the Ring,” sent to me long ago by Just4U. It still makes me laugh. Then “Personal Penguin” to stand in for the proposal itself, and “I Feel Pretty” because I’m pretty sure that’s something like what goes on in NEF’s stratospherically placed heads. I would have added Abie Rotenberg’s “The Wedding Song,” but it wasn’t available on Grooveshark.