Voting has now closed. Stay tuned — the winner will be announced just in time for the first night of Passover!
Every year, the Kveller team gets so much joy out of reading the entries to our now 4th annual Passover parody contest, in hopes of finding the final songwriting contenders for what will eventually become an incredible Jewish music video.
This year has been a particular delight because we’ve gotten a surprising number of recordings from Kveller readers — from a very rock’n’roll Passover take on the Kinks’ “Lola” to a wonderfully dramatic parody of “Tonight” from “West Side Story” called “Seder Night.”
While all the entries were wonderful in their own way, we’ve unfortunately had to narrow it down to just five finalists. The good news is that you can find many more parodies in Kveller’s new Passover Parody Songbook, out this year!
Now let’s give some love to our finalists, each of them more catchy than the next.
We have to give special props to Sam Levine, who wrote a virtually perfect “What’s Up” 4 Non Blondes parody and sent us particularly rousing recording of his reimagined lyrics. 10/10, no notes.
A parody of “Take My Breath Away” titled “Take My Bread Away” from the siblings team Adam Libarkin & Leslie Fried is pure genius. We’re in awe.
We’ve definitely thought of Pharaoh as a particularly terrible boyfriend, like Abby does in “Thronechild,” a parody of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild.”
We can’t help but hope that Domhall Gleason and Luis Capaldi make a special appearance in this parody of “Opalite” titled “Frog & Lice” by Eliana Kipper.
And of course, we’re super stoked to finally have a contender this year that’s a parody of the one and only Pink! The song that launched the career of this Jewish musical legend (and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee!) has been turned into one about the Jews leaving Egypt, titled “Let’s Get the Exodus Started,” by Naomi Kaye Honova.
It’s hard to handle all the brilliance! And now, it’s your turn to vote! Make us proud and choose the best of these contenders by March 6 at 1 PM ET. The winning song will be turned into a cinematic masterpiece, i.e. a music video from the one and only Rabbi Jaclyn Cohen, who last year recorded the most hilarious and drama-filled parody of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” titled, “Matzah Balls,” of course.
Read through the entries below, and then click here to vote for your favorite!
1. “Plagues (What’s Going On)” (to the tune of “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes) by Sam Levine
8 days to celebrate
Putting food on my seder plate
I’m gonna eat a lot of matzah
During the meal, we take our wine
Remove a drop, we do it ten times
Oh why? For the plagues of Egypt
You see Moses asked: “Let my people go”
The pharaoh shook his head and he just said no
But then came the plagues of Egypt
The pharaoh woke in the morning, he looked out and said
Look at the Nile, it all turned red.
He screamed at the top of his lungs, “What’s going on?”
2. “Take My Bread Away” (to the tune of “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin) by brother and sister duo Adam Libarkin & Leslie Fried
Watching through the window of this Jewish bakery
Haunted by the notion that the dough is fakery
Turning and returning to find a secret piece of pie
Watching in slow motion as I have to say goodbye
Take my bread away
3. “Thronechild” (to the tune of “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter) by Abby
You said you’d let us go, did you forget your promise
Whole tantrum you’re throwing, God, could you be more modest?
Yeah, you just think we’re finished
You don’t know what we’ve started
You had your chance to fix it, so here’s what we’re calling;
Locusts!
And how ‘bout, Hail?
Maybe some, boils!
Are you crying?
Wah Wah!
Throne child
Why did Moses pick you over me?
Wave goodbye
As we make our way through the parted sea.
4. “Frogs and Lice” (to the tune of “Opalite” by Taylor Swift) by Eliana Kipper
(Pre Chorus)
All of his schemes and all of his plans
We’ve seen it before, we’ll see it again
They try to break us, but we never bend
So it goes…
(Chorus)
Frogs and lice
Bloody water and the hail strikes
Dead animals and darkest night
Still Pharoah put up a fight
First borns slain
Pharoah realized that we weren’t playin’
We split the sea and walked on through
And now we’re singing Dayenu (oooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
5. “Get The Exodus Started” (to the tune of “Get the Party Started” by Pink) by Naomi Kaye Honova
Red Sea’s closin’ up so you better get this Exodus started
Red Sea’s closin’ up so you better get this Exodus started
Get the Exodus started early in the day
Everybody’s packin’, got no time to delay
Sendin’ out the message to each Israelite
Full up on the lamb and now all ready for flight
We got style from Egyptian silver rings
And we’ll walk for miles if you know what we mean
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