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!
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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.
*We recorded the episode thinking there was only one album. We’re sorry. There’s a jingle horse track we missed. We’re so sorry.
We’re tying up some loose ends on our request list, putting the unused pairs for last week’s pick together – and it’s always better when we’re together, right? Jack Johnson’s rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and The Ramones’ “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” may not seem like they have much in common at first glance, but they both make feeling bad sound pretty good. Thanks again to Alan and Matt for the requests!
This week, by popular demand, we return to the nigh-inexhaustible subject of music about sex and Santa Claus. Fortunately, “Back Door Santa” by Clarence Carter is far from the worst song in this sub-genre we’ve covered, and we pair it with another tune that sounds better in execution than in concept, the sultry but sweet “Hanukkah Lovin'” by Michelle Citrin. Thanks to Matt, Alan, and anonymous for the requests!
This week we get back into some Hanukkah songs! Grab your partner, do-si-do, and tune in to hear our thoughts on “Happy Joyous Hanukkah” by the Indigo Girls and “Hanukkah Dance” by Woody Guthrie!
In honor of three big calendar-changing holidays this week – Rosh Hashanah, the Islamic New Year, and the Autumnal Equinox – we’re listening to two New Year songs! The lively tune of “Gonna Make It Through This Year” by Great Lake Swimmers disguises some darker lyrics, while the complexities of “New Year’s Prayer” by Jeff Buckley are full of light.