Alef: The NEXT Conversation
I've Got a Crush on Regina Spektor
By Richard Skeen
This piece originally appeared on Alef in Issue #1: Old Country.
Unlike most of my Jewish friends, I didn’t have a Bubbe who regaled me with stories of the “Old Country.” I loved my grandmothers, but they were modern and American (one was actually a part-time rancher!) and simply didn’t fulfill my longing for Jewish tales of sad, forbidding places that, in my mind, represented the soul of the Jewish people. I wanted a personal history full of daring escapes from menacing Cossacks, of warm borscht soup and klezmer tunes, wise old Rabbis and alien-sounding names. I wanted Russian roots to enhance my Jewishness and figured a Bubbe was the ticket.
Soon after arriving to New York City from Oregon, I found a Jewish girlfriend with Old Country Russian roots, at least on paper. While I imagined that her deep brown eyes carried generations of Lithuanian Shtetl wisdom, and her brooding moods were by-products of oppression and pogroms, the truth was a little tamer. And her mother, the Bubbe I’d hoped to score in the match, was anything but: an Upper East Side contemporary art dealer, she had little interest in things Jewish or Perestroika.
With time, my Bubbe-longing faded. But it all came back in a flash when I discovered my perfect woman – Regina Spektor. In a faux KGB hat and a wicked smile – compelling if not quite beautiful on the cover of her Soviet Kitsch album – it was love at first sight. And her music – brilliant, quirky, funny, and wise – immediately struck me as, well, as something that could only come from a Russia-to-the Bronx (with a couple of years in a New Jersey Yeshiva) soul who had serious “Old Country” cred. Part of the anti-folk scene, Spektor’s songs are full of funny language and Jewish references. She uses a heavy New York accent on some words as an ode to the City, and her lyrics on songs like Samson and Laughing With are almost Dylan-esque in their biblical knowing. I was smitten, Spektor was part Russian-Jewish temptress and part Old Country Bubbe, always easily available on my iPhone. My desires were fulfilled.
Fortunately, Spektor’s talent justifies my crush, including the frequent Facebook uploads and disproportionate presence on my play lists. And truthfully, my wife may even understand, because listening to my former-Soviet crush while I prepare Shabbas cholent is almost as good as having my very own Bubbe.
Photo by jmtimages, licensed under Creative Commons.
Tangled up in Bad
By Richard Skeen
Jews doing Christmas music is hardly new. We have, after all, contributed everything from Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” to “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” testament to both the vast appeal of the holiday to Americans and the ability of Jewish immigrants to become a part of the American mosaic. Jewish contributions to the Season’s music is so prevalent that over the weekend, “Prairie Home Companion” host Garrison Keillor suggested we stay out of the Christmas music business.
In the nick of time, Bob Dylan has just released “Christmas in the Heart,” an album offering his take on the Christmas classics that is something both unique and peculiar, and may solve the hub-bub in one listen.
The Jewish people have claimed Bob Dylan since his beginning. Dylan’s history, lyrics, and discography have been passed from father to son and knowing boyfriend to girlfriend for decades. Such a Jewish story: young Robert Zimmerman from humble Minnesota (yes, the same place as the very non-Jewish Garrison Keillor) emerges in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village, and unleashes a barrage of brilliant folk music of protest, winning fans and critics alike. Jews (and millions of others) have loved his songs demanding justice, were electrified when he defiantly plugged in, and were amazed as his lyrics danced between Biblical allusion and profane love with such ease and profundity.
As his cannon grew, we applied a Talmudic search for meaning within his mystical and elusive lyrics. And like the wicked son of our Haggadah, we indulged Dylan’s flirtation with Christianity (and the abysmally bad music of that era) and forgave his Victoria’s Secret commercial as well as the numerous dud concerts and occasional dud record. But Dylan’s dreadful new “Christmas of the Heart” album is either unforgivable, or a bad joke. Or both.
From the get go, Dylan singing Christmas classics seemed doomed. Many Jewish fans were perplexed, and I suspect Christmas traditionalists were concerned (xenophobic, sure, but Garrison Keillor has a point). His sandpaper-gruff, wavering voice, isn’t exactly egg-nog smooth or Mel Torme cool (yep, Mel’s one of us too), but now that we’ve listened to his offering, it is clear Dylan has taken a bad idea and turned into an absolute “Polar Express” train wreck. “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” manages to be creepy and shrill, kind of like dating Sarah Silverman when she’s 70. “I’ll be Home for Christmas” feels like a menacing threat from a rehabing Uncle, while most of the other tracks seem better suited as a soundtrack for DrunkHistory than something you’d listen to while hanging those cute felt stockings. Even Dylan’s original “Must be Santa” is so bad – albeit kind of funny – I am tempted to out the Santa-secret to a bus full of second graders to get even.
Or is getting even the point? For 45 years, Dylan has provoked, trail-blazed, and surprised everyone in his path. His most recent albums have explored our nation’s rich and diverse musical heritage and shed brilliant new light on American roots music. It is quite possible that by offering his take on traditional Christmas fare, Dylan is both playing a wickedly funny joke on a fan base that has always tried to own him and offering commentary on what is, and isn’t, good Holiday music. “Christmas of the Heart” is so wildly unpleasant and off, it may just be the perfect gift for those fretting about the Red & Green Holiday not being “Christian enough.” Finally a secular, Jewish American artist gets the Holiday wrong….and if Garrison Keillor is right, not a day too soon.
…
Richard admits his crush on Jewish songtress Regina Spektor in Issue #1: Old Country.
…
Photos by Badosa, Cliff1066TM, Duncanh1, and dwhartwig, licensed under Creative Commons.
Waiting for Adam Sandler
By Julie Naturman
As Chanukah comes to an end, it makes me think about what I used to do as a kid with my family. I admit it – I’m definitely guilty of getting way too excited about Chanukah. Growing up, the highlight of the holiday season for me was when the radio stations started playing Adam Sandler’s Chanukah Song. I got so excited and if I was fast enough, I would record it on a cassette tape (remember those?). I would play that song over and over again until my parents practically begged me to find something else to do.
You see, The Chanukah Song was much more to me than just a fun song to sing along to on the radio (or on my cassette tape, for that matter). With each version that came out, Adam Sandler listed celebrities that were Jewish and celebrated Chanukah just like I did. As a kid, I loved hearing about all of them; I would take pride in bragging to all my non-Jewish friends about how many awesome famous Jews there were. Honestly, I think I wanted my friends to be jealous of me for celebrating Chanukah instead of have the Jewish kids be jealous of them for celebrating Christmas.
Adam Sandler has always been my favorite (which, of course, was why I loved the song so much). In most of his movies, he plays a Jewish character—the name Sunny Koufax, in Big Daddy, bears a strong resemblance to that of Jewish baseball player, Sandy Koufax. Sometimes the Judaism is even more overt–who could forget the scene in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry when he insists that a yarmulke be worn for the wedding, so as not to disappoint his mother. Always so proud to be Jewish, Adam Sandler is an amazing Jewish role model.
It has been quite a few years since the third version of Adam Sandler’s Chanukah Song came out, and I am dying for a new one. Come on Adam – give us Jews what we need! I will anxiously await every Chanukah season for number four.
Photo by Ihdren, licensed under Creative Commons.
Hanukkah Music: A Video Tribute
Whether you sing “Ma’oz Tzur” or Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song,” the truth is that there is a Hanukkah tune for you. So instead of having a case of the Mondays, dance a little in your chair (I know we are) as the Levee’s ask “How Do You Spell Channukkahh?” (Rock), Americans making Aliyah with Nefesh B’Nefesh start a Hanukkah Flash Mob (Pop), Max DeArmon and Regime Change Music tell you to “Light ‘em Up” (Rap), Dan Saks of DeLeon teaches us how to light a menorah (A cappella remix), and Eric Schwartz’s “Honika Electronica”…well, we think this one speaks for itself.
1. The Leevees – “How Do You Spell Channukkahh?”
2. Nefesh B’Nefesh – Hanukkah Flash Mob
3. Max DeArmon and Regime Change Music – “Light ‘Em Up”
4. Dan Saks – “Ocho Kandelikas”
5. Eric Schwartz – “Honika Electronica”
Photo by Ferrari + caballos + fuerza = cerebro, licensed under Creative Commons.
The Weekly Pita (1/8/2010)
This week we are excited to introduce the first installment of The Weekly Pita.
In the spirit of the new year, we thought it was time to try a little something different. So, we poked our heads up out of the snow (yes, we’re covered in it too), and took a look around at what else is going on in the Jewish world. You’ll never guess what we found; all over the internet, members of the tribe are not shy about sharing who they are and what’s on their minds. Today we bring you stories about hummus, yoga, music, and the media — but who knows what else we’ll find to stuff into The Weekly Pita.
…
1. Interview: Shohat’s dreams – The Jerusalem Post
2. Israel to U.S: “We also have humorless Jews” – HEEB
3. Is Yoga Kosher? – Tablet Magazine
4. A History of Israeli Cinema – Zeek
5. Israel aims for new record in the Middle “Eats” hummus war – Israel21c
Photo by VirtualErn, licensed under Creative Commons.
Follow Us
2009. Alef: The NEXT Conversation All rights reserved.
Home |
About |
Contact Us
Recent Comments