Cover Wars: "The Chanukah Song"

VS.

Time to put on your yarmulkes and break out the menorahs...

Greetings everyone, and a Happy Thanksgiving/Hanukah from us here at Rave Up Music! I am your host, Barius, and according to the lighting of the first candle on the menorah, it is time for a special Chanukah edition of Cover Wars! Or is it Hanukkah? Chanuka? Nevermind…

Anyway, in honor of the first night of this well-known Jewish holiday, for this edition of Cover Wars, we going to talk about one of the most famous and to some people, somewhat annoying Jewish celebrities, Adam Sandler. Now, I am a fan of Sandler’s work, even his not so great films.

Don’t judge me…

Adam Sandler is one of those comedic geniuses that may not be appreciated for what he does, but darn it if he does not keep on going. Sandler, like a lot of people in show business, is of Jewish descent, and proud of it, too. However, growing up, he felt that there were not a lot of popular Chanukah songs were being played during the holiday season (I think the ratio is 25 Christmas songs to every one Chanukah song), so in 1994, on the December 3^rd episode of Saturday Night Live, he performed the original tune, “The Chanukah Song.” Basically, it is a comedic song that listed famous people, real or fictional, who also celebrate Chanukah, even poking fun of those who are not.

As silly as the song is, it was an instant hit, even with non-Jewish fans. The song was so popular, that Sandler even had to update it twice with ‘The Chanukah Part II” in 1999 on his comedy album, Stand and Judy’s Kid, and “The Chanukah Song Part III” in 2002 as part of the soundtrack to Sandler’s holiday film Eight Crazy Nights.

A movie filled with cynical, gross out humor, and poop jokes. Perfect for the holiday season!

While it is a popular song, there has not been a lot of cover versions of “The Chanukah Song.” Consider this: “White Christmas” has over 500 different recorded versions of it out there, while “The Chanukah Song” has really only one other version out there besides Adam Sandler’s version. And that is the version we are covering today, and it comes from someone that I though I would never cover on this blog: Neil Diamond.

Personally and musically, I have never had a problem with Neil Diamond. He is a good mix of rock, folk, and country music all wrapped up into one neat package. He actually has a good number of songs that I enjoy, such as “Cherry, Cherry” and “America.”

If any of you are a fan of The Monkees, two of their biggest hits, “I’m A Believer’ and “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" were composed by Diamond for the group to perform.

The reason many teenage girls were committed for loving The Monkees. Thanks, Neil!

Like any artist who needs a little boost during their career, Diamond has released Christmas albums, three to be exact, but the third one, 2009’s A Cherry Cherry Christmas, has a cover version of Sandler’s “Chanukah Song” on it. I love this because of one thing: Neil Diamond is Jewish, and after three Christmas albums, it is nice to see him record a song about his heritage and faith.

Do not bother Neil during Chanukah, or he will shove that menorah up your ass.

So today on Rave Up Music, it is Cover Wars: Adam Sandler VS. Neil Diamond

The Original:

As always, we look at the original version of the song and figure out what made it successful. We are going to focus on the first “Chanukah Song” since that is the version covered by Diamond. This one is a little trickery than most songs in Cover Wars to analyze since it is a comedy song. Though it is intended to be a new Chanukah song, it still has that Sandler humor to it.

Right away, the music has a laid back feel to it, and for Adam Sandler, that is just perfect. Chanukah is one of the more laid back Jewish holidays, but that does not mean it is not important. The impression I get from my Jewish friends is that Chanukah is celebrated, but it is still not as important as Passover or Rosh Hashanah. This song is meant to give a new song to the holiday, albeit a comedic one.

The song does a great job of being funny. The line of OJ Simpson not being a Jew is still hilarious nearly twenty years after it was written, especially since during the time the song of written, OJ was in the middle of the infamous murder trial that he was found not guilty of committing. Needless to say, Simpson was not the most popular person at the time, nor was he after that. Heck, the line was so popular that it was brought back for Part II of the song, still emphasizes he non-Judaism.

What always stood out for me about this song was the different ways Sandler tries to rhyme the word “Chanukah.” Obviously, a rhyming dictionary is not exactly going to be helpful here, so Sandler just adds “-kah” to the end of a lot of word.

Put on your yalmulka, here comes Chanukah

So much fun-akkah, to celebrate Chanukah

Tell your friend veronica, it's time you celebrate Chanukah
I hope I get a harmonica, on this lovely, lovely Chanukah.

So drink your gin-and-tonic-ah, and smoke your mara-juanic-ah,
If you really, really wanna-kah, have a happy, happy, happy, happy
Chanukah! Happy Chanukah!

That is just hilarious in my book, even the marijuana joke. (NOTE: Rave Up Music does not condone smoking marijuana, but will give props to Sandler for making it rhyme with Chanukah).

Even though Sandler does a great job with the lyrics for rhyming words with Chanukah, I have to admit that the lines of naming famous Jewish people does kind of date this song. I can guarantee you that a lot of kids today may not know most of the people listed, especially since some of these people are decreased. But, for the older folks out there, it is still pretty funny to hear all the people listed as being Jewish, though it makes me wonder how many of them are actually practicing Judaism.

Overall, I find Sandler’s “Chanukah Song” to be quite funny, and in Sandler’s bizarre way, really captures the spirit of the holiday: a time to be with family and friends, and a reminder that even if you are the only kid in your class celebrating Chanukah, at least you are in good company with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock! Man, I really am a nerd…

The Cover Version:

Well, now it is time to look at Neil Diamond’s version of the song. Does he play the song as a straight cover, or does he mixes it up a bit? Does he improves upon the original, or totally destroys it? Well, let us find out…

….Um…wow. That was not what I was expecting.

First off, this one starts off laid back like Sandler’s version, but that Diamond cranks it up a notch, giving this one a very rock feel. It has upbeat drums, multiple layering of parts, and even a pretty good guitar solo in the middle of the piece. It is kind of odd to say this, but I could actually head bang to this if it was just a little more heavy.

The one noticeable thing about the Diamond cover of “Chanukah Song” is the lyrical changes. Some are subtle, and help the flow of the song, particularly for Neil’s singing style. The one lyric changed that I actually like is this one:

So many Jews are on my list.

Tom Cruise isn’t, but Jesus Christ is!

It is a very good change, and a nice reminder that Jesus, though the inspiration of the Christian faith, was born into Judaism, and practice Judaism before becoming the Messiah of Christianity. Just saying…

Overall, Neil’s version of “The Chanukah Song” is a lot of fun to listening to. It is not as funny as Sandler’s version, but it is still a nice little treat to listen to.

The Winner:

While both songs do a good job of presenting the material of naming Jewish famous people, and while I do enjoy Neil Diamond’s version for how glorious cheesy it is, I will have to say that Adam Sandler’s version of “The Chanukah Song” is the better version. What it comes down to it, it is the humor: it is a comedy song, and though it is funny thinking Neil Diamond covered this song, the jokes and pace of the song is that of Sandler’s. Plus, this song is not only synonymous with Chanukah, but of Adam Sandler, especially since he has THREE VERSIONS of the song. It was nice hearing fellow Jewish man Diamond singing an actual Chanukah song and not another version of “White Christmas,” but in the end, I just feel like the original “Chanukah Song” does a better job of capturing the Chanukah’s relaxed nature. Now if this were a song about “Passover,” a much more serious Jewish holiday, I would have said neither, but since it is Chanukah, I am giving to Sandler. Sorry Neil; but I do look forward to your cover of Sandler’s "Steve Polychronopolous.” Or maybe not; it is your choice.

WINNER: ADAM SANDLER

Anyway, that is all the time for Cover Wars this time around. To all my Jewish readers out there, I wish you had a very safe and happy holiday. As for the rest of you, tune in next month as we enter another month long celebration. I think you know what it is…Until next time, I am Barius, תשמור על עצמך, שיהיה לך יום טוב. (Translate that people; I am not doing it for you).

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