For a while there, we at Kveller thought the Jewish a cappella kings (and queens) had abandoned us this year. After all, as each passing day drew closer to Hanukkah, there were zero new parodies in sight.
But — finally! — just three days before Hanukkah, the Maccabeats dropped a delightful BTS parody. And now, Six13 is here, too, with a parody of another pop sensation — the reigning queen of ponytails and vocal range, Ariana Grande.
This new a cappella medley takes us through over a half-decade of Ariana Grande bops, from “Break Free” to “Positions.” The way the band altered the lyrics of these songs to be Hanukkah-specific is wonderful: “I’ve got no tears left to cry,” for example, becomes, “I’ve got some latkes to fry.”
For a play on Grande’s track, “7 Rings” — which, one could easily argue, is itself a parody of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song, “My Favorite Things” — the sassy lyric, “You like my hair? Gee, thanks, just bought it” becomes “You like my gelt? Todah, just won it.” And in their parody of “Break Free,” instead of independence from a previous lover, the Six13 folks sing about breaking free from religious tyranny in the time of the Maccabees. We love it!
Have a happy Arianukkah, everyone!
