Six13 – Bohemian Chanukah (a Queen adaptation)

This is so last decade.

But it’s got over a million streams in under a week on YouTube.

Now, is Article 13 gonna prevent these parodies? Beware of what you wish for. Rappers stole samples and then when rightsholders refused to license on reasonable terms, it became all about beats. Every action has a reaction, and we want more freedom, not less. But the truth is the copyright bullies, the movie studios are the worst, but music publishers are pretty bad, have crippled creativity, all in the name of more money. Meanwhile, rightsholders get paid on these YouTube parodies, but it isn’t enough, it’s never enough.

Now when anti-Semitism is rampant, it takes balls to let your Jewishness fly. Believe me, I’ve got the e-mail to prove it. But this act Six13 doesn’t care, then again, this is their shtick, Jewish songs, but I’ve never heard of them before today, even though their bio tells me they’ve been on “The Today Show,” “The View,” CBS and CNN. Shows the power of those outlets, as in little. You see we live in a word of mouth culture, and we need a trusted filter to get us to check out ANYTHING! In this case, my nephew Blake. I clicked and…

I smiled.

You remember smiling, don’t you? Back when music was about pushing limits within the record, as opposed to social media online. When acts as diverse as Allan Sherman and Frank Zappa put out music that rarely got Top Forty play, but owned living rooms and bedrooms for years. Come on, have you listened to Frank’s “Status Back Baby”? It still applies today!

And the replication of the original “Bohemian Rhapsody” video…

Shows that they put in some effort. And we appreciate effort, when you take your work seriously. Now, in the big time world, people only put in the effort if they’re gonna get paid. But it’s those not worried about money who always gain our hearts. Humanity comes through with the creativity

And the air guitar… Obviously this is an a cappella act, they can’t play.

But they can sing.

Funny how the voices are so good and the songs singable. This is a bit of what “The Voice” is selling, but the contestants want it so bad, it’s a turnoff. We don’t like it when you need it, when you grovel, we like it when the performance, the production, the singing, the song, is enough.

In a world of hype, it’s those who don’t hype, who let the work alone shine and stand for them, that we embrace.

And sure, there was a TV show about a cappella groups, “The Sing-Off,” it ran for five years, and one of the winners, Pentatonix, consistently tops the chart. Think about that, they’re not like everybody else, but they’re winning.

So, this act made a YouTube video and it’s connecting, it far outpaces their previous work, then again, they do this every Chanukah, and three years ago they broke seven digits with their “cover” of “Shake It Off,” but they’ve been posting for seven years, that’s how long it takes to get recognition in this world, far different from the pre-internet era, where if the label signed you, there was a good chance people would be aware of you, then again, would Six13 ever get signed?

I’ll be looking for Six13’s Chanukah song next year.

And know that you’ve got to satisfy yourself, you can see Six13 having fun in this video, they aren’t grimacing trying to get it perfect while exhibiting their hours in the gym, they’re being human, and once again, humanity resonates.

So they struck at the right time, when Queen and “Bohemian Rhapsody” are top of mind in the public sphere, but they got it right.

You too can get it right, if you stop complaining about money and focus on the art.

Then again, it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n’ roll.