One of the great modern musical traditions is Yo La Tengo’s annual series of Hanukkah concerts. For eight nights they play their own songs and lots of covers, sometimes with surprise special guests. There are comedians, entertainers and sometimes authors; David Sedaris was at one, and I think they even had a magician onstage onetime. Each concert raises money for a different charity and everybody has a great time.
The band said they wanted to throw a holiday party but figured there were already enough Christmas events, so they geared theirs toward another great holiday. The inspiration for this song was pretty similar when they recorded this lush bossa nova track from the 2019 compilation Hanukkah+: Yo La Tengo figured the world could use a few more Hanukkah songs. Especially ones like this.
