The Chanukah Song
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The "Chanukah Song" is a series of humorous songs written and performed by Adam Sandler. All variations center on the theme of Jewish children feeling alienated during the Christmas season, and Sandler's listing of Jewish celebrities (both real and fictional).
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[edit] Part I (1994)
This version appeared on Sandler's 1996 comedy album What the Hell Happened to Me?.
Jewish celebrities referenced in The Chanukah Song:
- David Lee Roth lights the menorah
- "James Caan...
- Kirk Douglas...
- ...and the late Dinah Shore-ah" (Replaced in some performances with Pauly Shore.)
- Bowser, from Sha Na Na (Jon Bauman)
- Arthur Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler)
- Paul Newman "half-Jewish"
- Goldie Hawn "half too. Put them together, what a fine-looking Jew!"
- "Captain Kirk...
- ...and Mr. Spock" (more accurately, the actors who portrayed them, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, respectively.)
- Howard Schultz, "owner of the Seattle SuperSonicahs"
- O. J. Simpson is explicitly stated as "not a Jew!" to great applause from the audience;
- Rod Carew ("he converted": this is an error. Carew married a Jewish woman and their children were raised as Jews, but he never converted to Judaism.)[1]
- "Ann Landers...
- ...and her sister Dear Abby" (at the time, Pauline Phillips, though her daughter, Jeanne Phillips (who took over the column) is also Jewish)
- Harrison Ford "A quarter jewish, not too shabby" (Sandler makes an error here, as Ford's mother is actually fully Jewish)[2]
- Ebenezer Scrooge is explicitly stated as not Jewish ("some people think that [he] is, well, he's not.").
- The Three Stooges
- Tom Cruise's agent "or so he heard"
During the final verse, performed originally on SNL, and on a radio cut, Sandler sings the line "Drink your gin and tonic-ah, but don't smoke marijuan-icah." On the uncut album version, and during various concert appearances, the line was changed to "Drink your gin and tonic-ah, and smoke your marijuan-icah." The uncut version, despite the reference to marijuana, receives most radio airplay today; another radio edit skips completely over the gin and tonic/marijuana line altogether.
The song also mentions "you don't need 'Deck the Halls' or 'Jingle Bell Rock.'" Ironically, neither one of those holiday songs explicitly mentions Christmas. "Jingle Bell Rock" is a general winter song, and "Deck the Halls" mentions New Year and Yule but not Christmas.
[edit] Part II (1999)
The "Chanukah Song, Part II" was recorded for Sandler's 1999 album Stan and Judy's Kid.
Persons referenced in The Chanukah Song, Part II (1999):
- Winona Ryder "drinks Manischewitz wine"
- Ralph Lauren
- Calvin Klein
- Louise Post and Nina Gordon "the girls from Veruca Salt"
- Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz "all three Beastie Boys"
- Lenny Kravitz "half-Jewish", See Courtney Love below
- Courtney Love "Lenny Kravitz is half-Jewish''. Courtney Love is half too. Put them together, what a funky, BAD-ASS JEW!"
- Harvey Keitel
- Jennifer Beals who is not Jewish; her mother re-married to a man named Edward Cohen
- Yasmine Bleeth who is Jewish on her father's side
- Dustin Hoffman(-icah)
- O.J. Simpson "Still not a Jew"
- Don Messick "the guy who does the voice for Scooby Doo"
- Bob Dylan the song notes his conversion to Christianity, but Sandler also says he's gone back to Judaism
- Robert Levine husband of (Mary Tyler Moore)
- Tiger Woods "No, I'm not talking about Tiger Woods"
- Happy Gilmore Sandler's title character in the 1996 film
- Bruce Springsteen "Isn't Jewish," but "my mother thinks he is"
[edit] Part III (2002)
Included on the Eight Crazy Nights soundtrack. (Featuring vocals from actor Rob Schneider and the children's choir "The Drei-Dels").
Persons referenced in The Chanukah Song, Part III (2002):
- David Schwimmer "Ross from Friends"
- Lisa Kudrow "Phoebe from Friends"
- David Lander "Lenny's pal Squiggy"
- Debra Messing
- Melissa Gilbert "Never mix meat with dairy," as does Michael Landon
- Michael Landon Along with Melissa Gilbert, Landon never mixes meat with dairy, although his mother was Catholic. Sandler muses that "maybe they should have called that show Little Kosher House on the Prairie".
- Jerry Lewis
- Ben Stiller
- Jack Black
- Tom Arnold "Tom Arnold converted to Judaism, but you guys can have him back!" Sandler then implies it was a joke, saying "Just kidding Tommy!"'
- Rob Schneider Sandler calls him "Deuce Bigalow." Schneider himself appears and even sings a part of the song.
- Willie Nelson While guest appearing, Rob Schneider sings this, although not Nelson himself; "The guy in Willie Nelson's band who plays harmonica celebrates Hanukkah!" is a reference to Mickey Raphael
- Osama bin Laden' "Not a big fan of the Jews," says Sandler while the Drei-Dels boo, "because he lost the figure skating match to gold medalist Sarah Hughes!"
- Sarah Hughes "Her momma's Jewish!"
- 'Harry Houdini along with David Blaine, "escaped straightjackets with such precision, but the one thing they could not get out of: their painful circumcision!"
- David Blaine see Harry Houdini
- Sean Penn "half-Jewish', quite the great one."
- Marlon Brando "Not a Jew' at all, but it looks to me like he ate one!" says Sandler, a joke about the late actor's obesity
- Perry Farrell
- Beck 1/8th Jewish
- Gwyneth Paltrow "Half-Jewish, but a full time Oscar winner."
- Jennifer Connelly According to Sandler, she is half Jewish, "and I'd like to put some more in her!"
- Lou Reed
- Paula Abdul
- Joey Ramone "Invented punk rock music but first came to Hebrew School!"
- Natalie Portman(-icah)
Also, in an unedited version that Sandler sings at some of his comedy shows, he replaces the lyric "As for half-Jewish actors, Sean Penn is quite the great one. And Marlon Brando's not a Jew at all, but it looks to me like he ate one" with "Gwyneth Paltrow's half-Jewish, but a full-time Oscar winner. Jennifer Connelly's half-Jewish, too, and I'd like to put some more in her". This edition is not played on radio versions. However, the music video shows a background screen shows a picture of Sandler licking his lips as the Jennifer Connelly lyric is sung, with shocked laughter coming from the audience. This version is hidden about four minutes after the edited version on the Eight Crazy Nights soundtrack.
[edit] Occurrences in the media
On an episode of The Office, Michael Scott parodies Sandler by performing "The Diwali Song" during a Hindu Diwali festival.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Charlton, James; Shatzkin, Mike; and Holtje, Stephen. The Ballplayers: Baseball's Ultimate Biographical Reference. (New York: Arbor House/William Morrow, 1990), pp 155-156. ISBN 0-87795-984-6.
- ^ Jenkins, Gary (March 1999). Harrison Ford: Imperfect Hero. Kensington Books, 9–12. ISBN 10080658016X.
[edit] External links
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