Song adds soul to Festival of Lights

Never mind the Christmas carols flooding the airwaves this season, let’s take a listen to the first new Hanukkah songs aimed at getting us into the mood for lighting candles, spinning dreidls and eating way more oily food than is good for us.

It’s already old news that Adam Sandler has released an updated version of his “Hanukkah Song,” a holiday favorite of full-Jews, half-Jews, quarter-Jews, and, of course, also non-Jews. We all want to hear his humorous new, mildly insulting lyrics about everyone from Seth Rogen to Jared from Subway to Shia LaBeouf, who Sandler points out “is half a Jew, but 100 percent nutty.”

Unfortunately, when we go to watch it on YouTube, all we get is a message saying, “The Hanukkah Song LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL” – This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner Music Group.” Bah humbug.

If you are still in the mood for a silly new Hanukkah song, then you’ll have to resort to watching country music singer Jake Owen‘s Hanukkah album video. In truth, though, it’s nothing more than a parody skit shown recently on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

We know as soon as Owen appears in an menorah sweater and introduces himself by saying, “Well hey, I’m Jake Owen. Some of you might like to call me Jay Cohen” that we’re in for one hackneyed stereotype after another. Purposely aiming to make us cringe, Owen performs a sampling of numbers from the supposed album, including: “Let’s do Jewish stuff,” “Reuben the Red-Nosed Rabbi,” “Flat Tater Tots” and “Who Does Santa’s Taxes?”

The only moment in the video that might make anyone elicit a genuine chuckle is when Owen unwittingly goes to blow out the Hanukkah candles birthday-style, and his “family” rushes to stop him.

https://youtu.be/zDiWSWyrMS4

Now that we’ve gotten all the kitsch out of the way, you’ll appreciate that we’ve saved the best for last. What’s up next is a new Hanukkah song you’ll thank us for telling you about.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, a New York-based Grammy-nominated Funk/Soul/R&B band, has released a new holiday album called “It’s A Holiday Soul Party,” featuring a song titled, “8 Days of Hanukkah.”

You just know it’s got to be good when cynical, ironic hipster Heeb magazine runs a review of it titled, “Finally! A Hanukkah Anthem That Doesn’t Suck.”

Indeed, this song does not even remotely suck. In fact, if this driving ditty doesn’t get you into the Festival of Lights mood, let alone up on your feet dancing all around the room, then we don’t know what will.