A note: our pre-song banter contains some bummers this week!
A note: our pre-song banter contains some bummers this week!
A note: our pre-song banter contains some bummers this week!
This week on HARK, we tackle two requests for which the requester provided very little context. The resulting episode includes discussions about mass incarceration and toothpaste jingles. “Everybody Deserves a Merry Christmas” by Ronnie Fauss is a type of twangy jailhouse rock, and “I’d Like You for Christmas” by Julie London has old-timey musical theatre vibes. You can guess which one prompted which discussion.
Thanks again to Brenda for the requests!
Some corrections: Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People was definitely on the Wii. Christmas Tree Shops still exist, and are owned by Bed Bath & Beyond. “Inparsable” is probably not a word. As aforementioned, Homestar Runner and his companions live in Free Country, USA. Cut us some slack; we’ve had a week.
Thank you to Brian from Ohio for the requests!
This week, we tackle some requests for songs belonging to that most 1980s of genres: Hair Metal. And yet, the two songs we’re covering were recorded in this millennium. Could it be that the artists who performed them did so less than 100 percent seriously? It’s kind of hard to tell, which is kind of the charm of both “O Come All Ye Faithful” by Twisted Sister and “Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)” by The Darkness.
Thank you to Matt for the requests!
This week, in honor of International Cat Day, we’re covering songs for our two cats: Kurt and Heidi. “Snow Falls on the Patio” by Heidi Happy is a sweet, strange, slightly spooky song that matches our sweet, strange, slightly spooky new daughter. And “Santa Claus is Back in Town” as performed by Kurt Russell in the Netflix original holiday production “The Christmas Chronicles” is full of bombast and bravado, just like our large son, Kurt.
As promised, here is a picture of Kurt and Heidi:
Continue readingAs July draws to a close and the hottest days of summer (so far) hit the northern hemisphere, we return to that perennial source of bottom-of-the-list material: songs about spending the holidays in a warm place. But this year, there’s a twist: The songs we listened to are actually good, it turns out! First, we enjoy the silly “(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica” by Tom Lehrer. Then, we discover an absolute jam in “Christmas in L.A.” by Vulfpeck.
There are a lot of national food days in July, you guys. This week, we’re celebrating National Hot Dog Day with some Christmas songs about pigs. “The Boar’s Head Carol” by Magpie Lane is pretty much exactly what the title says it is, while “Noche Buena” by Celeste Legaspi has a slightly more roundabout connection to our episode theme.
Both of these songs are referenced in the Bon Appétit article we mentioned in the show, which you can check out here.
Both of these songs are referenced in the Bon Appétit article we mentioned in the show, which you can check out here.