Rant #3,600: Dreidel

Well, tomorrow is the momentous day we have been looking forward to ...

But if you Jewish, you have to wait for sunset to join in the fun.

Yes, tomorrow is Christmas Day, and tomorrow is also the first night of Chanukah, a holiday which begins at sunset.

Sure, the holidays have been totally commercialized, and yes, the true meaning of both holidays has been pretty much lost, but as the old Christmas song tells us, "It's the most wonderful time of the year."

And talking about holiday music, i thought i would do what nobody else does, and you have it exclusively here.

There are so many top Christmas songs lists, and they all feature some great--and not so great--tunes of the season.

So right here, in the 3,600th entry of The Ranting and Raving Blog, I thought I would present a list of my personal 16 favorite Chanukah songs.

Some of them you will know, others you won't, and to be honest with you, most of these tunes have absolutely nothing to do with Chanukah, but I included them as representations of what I thought were good, Jewish-related songs in the pop vein.

So here they are, in no particular order, although since I call my collection "Chanukah Rocks," the first song on the list has to be just that.

Gefilte Joe and the Fish - Hanukkah Rocks

Seth Kurland - Famous Jews

Adam Sandler - The Chanukah Song

Brenner and Blitzer - The Problem

Barenaked Ladies - Hanukkah Blessings

Barenaked Ladies - Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah

Don McLean - Dreidel

Gefilte Joe and the Fish - Walk On the Kosher Side

Allan Sherman - Sir Greenbaum's Madrigal

Eric Schwartz - Hannukkah Hey Ya

Connie Francis - Havah Negilah (Dance, Everyone, Dance!)

Rabbi Joe Black - Yodel Dreidel

Tom Lehrer - Chanukah in Santa Monica

What I Like About Jew - (It's Good to Be) A Jew at Christmas

Wild Man Fischer and Dr. Demento - I'm a Christmas Tree

Peter, Paul and Mary - Light One Candle

And yes, as you can see, I included the Adam Sandler and Seth Kurland songs that I spoke about yesterday, so even though really neither has to do with Chanukah per se--even though one is called "The Chanukah Song"--one begat the other, so I have to include them both.

The Brenner and Blitzer tune addresses "the problem" that the holidays present to some people, while The Barenaked Ladies' tunes almost came out of the blue a few years ago, and they are actually quite good.

Don McLean's "Dreidel" is no "American Pie," but the story goes that back in the early 1970s, the singer-songwriter was spending a lot of time in Israel, as he was dating an isrseli woman, and this song is about that relationship.

We have another fun song by Gefilte Jie and the Fish, a takeoff of fellow Jew Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," and then comes another parody by the all-time musical parodist Allan Sherman, who happened to be Jewish, too.

I take it that Eric Schwartz is a fellow lonsman, and his song does feature the holiday in its title, and then we have the very Italian Connie Francis singing perhaps the most famous Jewish song in the United States.

You have to have a rabbi to make this all kosher, so we have Rabbi Joe Black to make this list official.

And then, who but Tom Lehrer could find a word that rhymes with Chanukah and build a great song around it?

The next two songs are not among the greatest tunes ever written, but heck, What I Like About Jew and Wild Man Fischer (with Dr. Demento) give it a go.

Finally, Peter, Paul and Mary deliver one of their truly best songs, showing how light can illuminate whatever path we decide to walk on.

So there it is.

All these tunes are available on YouTube, but here is the link to the Peter, Paul and Mary song, a tune which really is as good as it gets.

https://youtu.be/h1cRXgDFiSs?si=OX3oPAF9SRI75rcs

So that being said, have a wonderful Chrstmas, a fantastic Chanukah, and I will speak to you again on Thursday--

Which just happens to be the first day of Kwanzaa and my sister's birthday, and sorry, I have no song lists for either one.