Jewish Stereo Types

  And of course a song or two: "Book of Good Life" (parody of "Good Life" by OneRepublic), sung by the Maccabeats: Video posted by Maccabeats Channel   "Dip Your Apple" (parody of Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira and John Hill), sung by the Ein Prat Fountainheads: Video posted by einpratfountainheads *** I have no reason to think any of the members of OneRepublic are Jewish--and several to think they are not--but of course the writers of the lyrics to this parody (Immanuel Shalev and David Block) are. Similarly, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" had no Jewish creators of which I am aware, but the lyrics of this parody (by Ben R.) do.

Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894, but the first of my two songs for today was written in 1930 , for the Depression-era 1932 revival of the musical revue Americana , and it's a stark reminder of the need for organized labor.   "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney, sung by Bing Crosby: Video posted by warholsoup100 In its review of the revival, The New York Times particularly called out the song for praise: [Y]ou are likely to feel that Mr. Gorney has expressed the spirit of these times with more heart-breaking anguish than any of the prose bards of the day. If Mr. Hoover had asked for a song instead of a poem the other day, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" would have been what the President ordered. Interestingly, as Rob Kapilow points out in an interview on NPR the song isn't someone asking for a handout--it's someone talking back to the system, someone saying, "I worked hard, I helped bui...