Six13 - An A Capella Band
Chanukah (Shake it Off)
Whether or not you’re a Swiftie, Taylor Swift’s song “Shake It Off” flips an everyday cliché into a viral, award-winning track.
Swift’s musical career and catalogue inspires all sorts of reactions; for example, a Harvard professor has created a course “Taylor Swift and Her World”.
Outside the college classroom, Swift’s songs have inspired other musical artists like the acapella group Six13.
Six13 has adapted the music and the lyrics of “Shake It Off,” flipping and spinning Swift’s version into a lighthearted Chanukah celebration. But behind their (intentionally) silly antics and cheesy costumes is a more serious truth that Six13 taps into.
The one thing that does not change with Six13’s version of “Shake It Off” is how music helps vocalists and listeners to “keep cruisin'” ahead. Moving forward is hard sometimes, and times are challenging.
Swift’s lyrics remind us to:
1) renew our resolve “Can't stop, won't stop movin'”; 2) to “shake” the unkind things that people do “off;” 3) to accept that players, haters, heartbreakers, and fakers will always do what they do – play, hate, break, and fake; 4) and to remember and embrace the comfort of music. “It's like I got this music/ In my mind sayin', "It's gonna be alright."
Six13’s adaptation translates the spirit of Swift’s lyrical reminders to Chanukah.
It can sometimes be difficult to ‘shake off’ challenges and embrace the Festival of Light; but “It’s gonna be eight nights” so there’s time to practice. Just press play.
