The twelve days of Christmas continue and in this episode, we celebrate Epiphany with two versions of “We Three Kings”! Pink Martini’s rendition offers a smooth, fun take on this somber carol, while Patti Smith’s version is completely grave.
For our final episode of the year, we’re covering two 2017 songs by artists best known for their childhood work – in a sequel of sorts to one of our favorite episodes of HARK ever, we’re talking about “Finally It’s Christmas” by Hanson and “Christmas Memories” by Billy Gilman!
Happy holidays everyone! It’s that time of year – time for a milestone episode in which Ian & RJ surprise each other with picks aiming for the top and bottom of the list! RJ’s pick for the top offers a message of possibility in uncertain times, while Ian’s pick for the bottom submits some extremely specious advice about dance partners.
Here’s the article that RJ mentioned about ranking versions of “This Christmas”!
Happy Hanukkah! This week we celebrate with two modern versions of a traditional Hanukkah song – “Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah” as performed by The Barenaked Ladies and Erran Baron Cohen.
We recorded this episode from our hotel in Seattle, where we attended Podcon this past weekend!
We know not everyone is as keen on the holiday season as we are, and this episode goes out to them. This week we review two melancholy Christmas tunes – “Nothing Left to Do (Let’s Make This Christmas Blue)” by The Both and “Things We Don’t Need Anymore” by Jenny Owen Youngs.
Thanks to the anonymous listener who requested these songs!
We take on two puppet-related requests this week and end up hitting the extremes of our list. “The Christmas Wish” by Kermit the Frog, arguably the greatest puppet of all time, delights us — while “Christmas Tree” by Dustin the Turkey, an all-around troublesome audio-visual experience, dumbfounds us.
Philip Lopez’s amazing playlist of every song we’ve ever ranked is here!
You can support HARK on Patreon!
Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Dragon Tuesday. Join us as we celebrate with songs worthy of this fabled holiday. We stare into the face of our own mortality with Dragon Tuesday founder John Darnielle’s rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and harken to an epic tale of bravery and righteousness with Gods of Fire’s “The Quest For the Latke Oil”.
We get back into some requests, covering two intriguing songs that were both released in 2016. “Joy” by Jeremih & Chance the Rapper is a deceptively simple jam that delivers some complex ideas, while “The Carol” by Loona is a sweet enough K-pop tune by a band that… only kind of exists?
Thanks again to Quincy and anonymous for the requests!
We’re back and we’re celebrating RJ’s birthday! For their birthday boi’s choice, RJ has selected two songs themed around a Christmas standard that we’ve actually never covered on the show – the kind of thing they can get away with on their birthday. This year, to save us from tears, we listen to “Last Christmas” by Carly Rae Jepsen and “George and Andrew” by The Boy Least Likely To.
And FYI: you can now support HARK on Patreon!
Dim the lights… strike a match… because it’s HARK’s annual Halloween special, and this year we’re listening to two Halloween/Hanukkah songs! We start off strong with “Hanukkah” by the Manischefits, a mysterious Misfits cover band which might be composed of spirits who visited this plane only for a brief time to fulfill their one true purpose. “Halloween Hanukkah Christmas Ghost” by Hap Palmer tries to squeeze a lot of holiday content into one child-friendly tune, and while we admire that, we also find it lacking in either cheer or chills.