Song Lyric of the Day (Orrin Hatch, Celebrating Hannukkah As Only He Can)

“Eight days of Hanukkah,
Come let’s celebrate.
Eight days of Hanukkah,
Let’s celebrate tonight, Hey!”—Senator Orrin Hatch and Madeline Stone, “Eight Days of Hannukkah” (2009)

Oy vey. The Republican senator from Utah claims that he “loves” the Jews.

Well, I guess the Chosen People are feeling so beleaguered these days—both with the old, garden-variety anti-Semitism that continues to rear its ugly head among right-wing extremists, and the new virulent hatred for Israel, its citizens, and all who support her taking root in the Mideast and the outer fringes of the European and American left—that they’ll take love however it arrives—even if that form won’t bear comparison to Irving Berlin at low ebb.

Still, when I think of the contributions the senator might make to counteracting all of this with his ditty, I can’t help but sympathize with the person who commented on “The Huffington Post”: “Haven’t the Jews been through enough over the centuries?”

Politicians with even a modicum of musical talent are awfully infrequent—even rarer, if you want to know the truth, than honest ones. Borin’ Orrin should mistake himself for neither one-hit wonder Vice-President Charles G. Dawes, who, as I noted in a prior post, composed a nice melody converted into “It’s All in the Game” after his death, nor for Mike Curb who, before becoming lieutenant governor of California, wrote numerous movie soundtracks and pop songs.

What surprises me, though, is not that Hatch has delusions of musical talent (political egos are a source of merriment the whole year through—the gift that never ceases to give), but that he was aided and abetted in his assault on the human ears by a member of the faith he says he loves. Tablet Magazine contributor Jeffrey Goldberg owns up that it was his prodding that induced Hatch to uncover his talent (or whatever you want to call it) from beneath a bushel.

(Thankfully, the senator chose, very wisely, I believe, not to lend his voice to his composition, which you can listen to—if you dare—in this video.)

Someone out there besides Adam Sandler has to have written a Hannukkah song that will receive significant airplay this time of year. If Hatch is declared the de facto winner of these sweepstakes, I, for one, will press for a recount.