Our favorite time of the year is upon us! We’re not talking about Passover cleaning season (sending everyone strength and positive vibes for that one) but about the time to announce Kveller’s third annual Passover parody contest!
We’ve all come to love and appreciate the Jewish holiday parody song tradition, carried on by everyone from a cappella groups to quirky rabbis and cantors. Replacing the lyrics of popular songs with references to plagues and matzah crumbs is basically a time-honored Jewish tradition, and you don’t have to be a professional songwriter or performer to partake. Hence, our Passover parody contest is open to anyone who wants to try their hand at writing the lyrics to a Passover parody, to the tune of any song you fancy.
Last year’s contest winner, Matt Slater, wrote an NSYNC parody about everyone’s favorite Passover breakfast food, “Brei Brei Brei,” which was ultimately recorded by the one and only Jonah Platt in the epic music video below. The year before that, winner Adam Singer Swift-ified the Jewish holiday. And this year? The world is our oyster… well, oyster mushroom (the other kind isn’t kosher!). We’ll have a surprise artist record the winning parody, so all we need from you, dear readers, is your excellent humor and rhyming skills.
So open that Google doc or your favorite notebook and get to writing those parodies! Choose a tune you love, from a classic Dylan song (it is, after all, the year of “A Complete Unknown”) to your favorite unexpected “Wicked” bop (is Elijah also “A Sentimental Man?”) and turn it into a song about Passover. Maybe it’s about how long the seder is? Or about drinking those four cups of wine? Or maybe even about the horrors of Passover cleaning? Or you could go with a fun classic retelling of the Exodus story. There are just so many possibilities.
Once you’ve perfected your lyrics, send them in their full Jewish glory — as a Word doc, PDF, or just in the body of an e-mail — to contest@kveller.com. The deadline to submit is March 26. That means it’s time to get cracking!
The Kveller team will choose the finalists, and you, dear Kveller readers, will get to vote for the winning parody, so even if writing songs is not your forte, you still have so much power in your hands!
We can’t wait to see your parodies and choose an incredible new song for this year. Good luck to all!
