We are almost ready to announce the winner of Kveller’s parody contest, but first, we have to announce the runner-up. It was such a close competition that we had to honor this entry that came in a very close second place.
“Four Cups of Wine,” a parody of “Closer to Fine” by the Indigo Girls, charmed us and our audience, and fortunately, it was submitted by a cantor, Lauren Phillips Fogelman. Knowing she had some singing chops of her own, we asked Phillips Fogelman to record her own version of the song, and luckily for all of us, she agreed. Not only that, but she brought along some fellow musical Jews — Stessa Peers and Rabbi David Holtz — to record the song at Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, New York, where she works as a cantor.
“I wanted to do a Passover parody based on the ‘Barbie’ movie, and when I rewatched the movie, I realized that this Indigo Girls’ classic is used as the journey song throughout the movie,” Phillips Fogelman told Kveller over e-mail. “We hear it each time people enter and leave Barbie Land. Because of this, it’s the perfect way to tell our story of the Exodus from Egypt!”
“I’ve never had so much fun coming in second place,” Fogelman Phillips told us. It’s definitely the comforting folk Passover parody we needed this year. We also love the four cups props!
We’re so glad she entered the song into the contest, and that we get to share it with you all. Stay tuned to hear Jonah Platt’s recording of the winning parody soon!
Lyrics of “Four Cups of Wine” by Cantor Lauren Phillips Fogelman:
We gather to tell tales of Jewish life
How we escaped from slavery that night
With matzah on our backs we crossed the sea
Pharoah finally took our plea more seriously
He let our people go, yeah
On Passover we celebrate the miracle
With symbols meant to represent our past
Moses led us through the Red Sea waters
Miriam played timbrel with our daughters
We crawled across your shores.
We walked through the desert, we stood by the mountain
We nurtured our children, used rocks as a fountain
At seder we talk about four questions
Before we begin to dine
The Haggadah tells our history and narrative
And we drink four cups of wine, yeah!
We drink four cups of wine, yeah!
Our teachers share their wisdom and philosophy
With commentary so astute to hold our memories
Turn stories into songs, or make an epic movie
Award-winning performance of our amazing journey!
We spent 40 years wandering in circles
Crossed the Jordan, we were free!
We walked through the desert; we stood by the mountain
We nurtured our children, used rocks as a fountain
At seder we talk about four questions
Before we begin to dine
The Haggadah tells our history and narrative
And we drink four cups of wine, yeah!
We drink four cups of wine, yeah
We walked through the desert; we stood by the mountain
We nurtured our children, used rocks as a fountain
We walked through the desert; we stood by the mountain
We nurtured our children, used rocks as a fountain
Yeah, we read through the Bible, it captures our story
We scroll through the Torah, we celebrate our glory
At seder we talk about four questions
Round the table we recline
The Haggadah is one source of Jewish narrative
And we drink four cups of wine!
We drink four cups of wine!
We drink fourr cups wine!
We drink four cups of wine!
