Wow, so now that Matisyahu has shed his kipah it was safe for him to write a Hanukkah song. Very interesting. Though Adam Sandler did not wear a kipah for his Hanukkah song, he at least mentions one. Oh the irony. That said , I do enjoy Matisyahu's song. Its just a long time coming.
The evolution of the pop culture Hanukkah song is quite curious. There was a long time where if you listened to the radio there were only X-mas songs in December then along came Adam Sandler who in December 1994 sang his 'Hanukkah Song' on Saturday Night Live. It was a silly song but somehow it caught on and has played on the radio every December since. Next came the Maccabeats with their song Candlelight that hit you tube by storm with millions of hits. The secular media went crazy . It was the first time shomer shabbos Jews gained notoriety for a Hanukkah song. Now Matisyahu who is known for being a hassidic reggae singer now isn' t hassidic, but has come out with a Hanukkah song. Now a Jewish singer who is popular in the secular world as a singer has come out with a Hanukkah song. We've come a long way folks.
8 comments:
Nebuch, what's become of him? :(
Matisyahu did have a Chankuah song when he was still a furry face: "Miracle." He did not wait until the beard came off; it was done already.
יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן פְּרַחְיָה אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה לְךָ רַב, וּקְנֵה לְךָ חָבֵר, וֶהֱוֵי דָן אֶת כָל הָאָדָם לְכַף זְכוּת
Why Frum Female is Unique: because she seems to genuinely enjoy life, as contrasted with other SJF bloggers who spend most of their time complaining about: men, matchmakers, and being single.
G_d loves happy Jews, not Jews who complain every day.
Princess Lea I do stand corrected. The official video for miracle is not as kosher as the one for the new song is. in miracle he also dresses up as santa claus.
I will post both videos.
Santa Claus as we know it is an invention of the Coca-Cola company. The trappings of Christmas was exacerbated by the shopping industry to encourage selling everything that isn't glued down.
And to get on a deeper level, Matisyahu was showing how he is being held hostage by the holiday season and broke free, like the Maccabees from the Syrian Greeks.
princess lea- perhaps there is a deeper level to matisyahu dressed up as santa in his video, but it still did not impress me. to me it seems he did it to bow to the masses and make his video more universal .
I have to agree with fff. Look, pl, I get that you wanna defend the guy, but it realld does seem as if, even at the time of making that video, he's been trying more and more to appeal to a wider audience. I wouldn't be suprised if he comes out with a full-blown Christmas song next year.
Post a Comment