You ever hear a brass instrument doing its thing and you think: that’s jazz, baby! And then in another song you hear a brass instrument doing something, maybe not its thing, and you think: is this approaching the concept of jazz? For this International Jazz Day episode, we explore two songs’ proximity to the category of jazz. First up is “Mary Had a Baby” as performed by Wynton Marsalis, featuring vocals by Roberta Gumbel. It’s for sure jazz, but also, more! Then we make another visit to Bill & Gloria Gaither’s proverbial Christmas cabin with “He Drew the Line” featuring Woody Wright and Mike Allen. Is it jazz? Is it jazzy? Is it (jazzy?)? Well.
Our ranking music in this episode is “I’m Gonna E-mail Santa” by Billy Gilman. Thank you to Andrew for requesting “He Drew the Line”!
This was supposed to be our annual 4/20 episode, but it also turned out to be a sleeper Halloween episode – though I suppose an anxious, paranoid vibe is not wholly inappropriate. Our first song, “Pudsy’s Christmas” by Jonathan Coulton, manages to give RJ a serious case of heebie-jeebies due to its origin story. “California Christmas Trees” by Mila J doesn’t provide quite the come-down we’re looking for, but it is at least, you know, not cursed.
Our ranking music this week is “Christmas in LA (Instrumental)” by Vulfpeck.
Our ranking music this week is “Christmas in LA (Instrumental)” by Vulfpeck.
This week we’re forgoing our tradition of covering more religious songs for the Easter and Pesach seasons in favor of lighter fare. We dig into two 2020 Hanukkah songs brought to you by that one company that owns most of the things! You know the one. “Hanukkah Medley” performed by Julia Lester of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series packs three traditional Hanukkah songs (including one that we assumed was an original during recording) and several costume changes into just two minutes. “Puppy for Hanukkah” by Daveed Diggs also has a lot going on – including, you know, being a bop.
Our ranking music this episode is “Puppies are Forever” by Sia.
Our ranking music this episode is “Puppies are Forever” by Sia.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so for this episode we’ve got… well, one mildly relevant song. By request, we listen to “The Season’s Upon Us” by Dropkick Murphys, a Celtic-punk entry in the “I hate my family” subgenre of holiday tunes. Then we hear No Doubt’s rendition of “Oi to the World”, evoking both nostalgia and regret.
Our ranking music in this episode is “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys. The scene-by-scene breakdown of the “Oi to the World” music video we mentioned is here.
Thank you to Scott for these requests!
Our ranking music in this episode is “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys. The scene-by-scene breakdown of the “Oi to the World” music video we mentioned is here.
Thank you to Scott for these requests!
In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8th, we’re listening to two songs that bring women to the forefront of the Christmas character canon! Uh, sort of. “Good Queen Wenceslas” by Goldstein is an odd take on the classic carol that leaves us feeling conflicted, while “Red Nose, Red Dress” by Christmas Aguilera has us completely hooked. So much so that it’s also the ranking music for this episode!
In honor of International Mother Language Day on February 21st, we’re increasing the linguistic diversity of our list by covering two songs in languages that haven’t been featured on the show before! First up we enjoy “Elu Agogo”, a cheerful Christmas song in Yoruba performed by Ife Ogunwumiju. Then we experience “Marie Te Po”, a Te Reo Maori translation of “Silent Night”, performed by Lucky Boy^ – who brings some delightful surprises to the old standard.
The ranking music in this episode is “Betelehemu” as performed by the African Children’s Choir.
The ranking music in this episode is “Betelehemu” as performed by the African Children’s Choir.
As Lunar New Year approaches, we’re looking back at one very specific year – the only year between 1943 and 2020 that has never had a song featured on the podcast! We discuss two of 1972’s strange and sometimes haunting holiday songs: “The Gift of Giving” by Bill Withers and “Slipping into Christmas” by Leon Russell.
This episode’s ranking music is “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers.
This episode’s ranking music is “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers.
In anticipation of Groundhog Day, a holiday that is as much about repetition and time travel than it is about anything else, we’re doing our most repetitive episode yet – two requests by a repeat requester, featuring two versions of songs we’ve discussed before, performed by two artists we’ve discussed before! We discuss “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” AGAIN, this time as performed by Louie Armstrong and Velma Middleton. And then we reluctantly dig back into the big steaming pile of Bob Rivers’ parody tracks, and unfortunately experience “Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire”.
The ranking music this week is the theme song of the 1980s Chipmunks cartoon, which was initially called “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and later simply “The Chipmunks”.
Thank you to Tom for these requests!
The ranking music this week is the theme song of the 1980s Chipmunks cartoon, which was initially called “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and later simply “The Chipmunks”.
Thank you to Tom for these requests!
It’s Epiphany, aka Three Kings Day – but instead of three kings, we’ve got two princes! That’s right, we’re abandoning our format to talk about the Spin Doctors’ 90s hit!
No, just kidding, we’re talking about Prince. Join us as we reflect on the apocalyptic New Year’s anthem “1999” and the strange, gloomy “Another Lonely Christmas”.
This week’s ranking music is, in fact, “Two Princes” by the Spin Doctors.
No, just kidding, we’re talking about Prince. Join us as we reflect on the apocalyptic New Year’s anthem “1999” and the strange, gloomy “Another Lonely Christmas”.
This week’s ranking music is, in fact, “Two Princes” by the Spin Doctors.
Our final episode of 2020 marks another 25 episodes of HARK and another 50 songs on our list, so as per tradition, we’re aiming to unseat the songs at the top and the bottom. For Ian’s best-of-the-best pick, he selects a song that leans into the philosophical questions Christmastime poses and also our early-00s-indie-bullshit wheelhouse. For RJ’s bottom-of-the-list pick, they select a scalding hot take on a classic Christmas character that physically hurts to endure.
The ranking music is “Grinch 2000” by Busta Rhymes and Jim Carrey.
The ranking music is “Grinch 2000” by Busta Rhymes and Jim Carrey.