Craig Wedren, the acclaimed frontman of Shudder to Think and prolific film & tv composer (School of Rock, Wet Hot American Summer, YELLOWJACKETS), shares two tracks to celebrate Hanukkah at a moment when it feels especially important to embrace light, community and togetherness: “Jew They Know It’s Christmas” and “Sanctuary.” 

Twenty years ago, Craig Wedren and Meggan Lennon invited a bunch of friends including Paul Rudd, David Wain, Joe Lo Trulio and Sam Trammell into their downtown NYC apartment to re-record the 1984 holiday classic, “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, lovingly referred to within the group of mostly Jewish friends as “Jew They Know It’s Christmas.” As we head into the fifth night of Hanukkah, they share the cover as a celebration of friendship, family and joy.

Wedren and Lennon invited their friends to record the note-for-note cover of the epic 12” single as a present for her family in 2005, as it was an annual tradition for the Lennons to play the extended remix of the track on repeat while going in on all things Christmas – decorating the tree, opening presents, eating cookies, screaming at each other or brooding in silence, laughing and telling stories. “As a Jewish kid from Cleveland, I never celebrated Christmas but I was a HUGE fan of the song,” notes Wedren. “When Meggan first took me home to Chicago for the holidays, the combination of a proper Midwest Irish Christmas enhanced by Band Aid fully won me over.”

The pair invited their friends over to their apartment on December 17, 2005 and had what turned into a massive karaoke party. “It was lightning in a bottle,” notes Wedren. “Just one of those perfect nights with everybody laughing and drinking and singing. Beautiful. We all still marvel at the magic, joy, and utter ridiculousness that was in the room that night – truly, one for the books. What a gift.”

Wedren also shares “Sanctuary,” which was originally released in 2019 as part of the Verve Forecast compilation, Hanukkah+. Craig says, “‘Sanctuary’ is about real and imagined environments that connect us to ourselves and to one another. It is also about the quiet hauntings of memory and dreams – some true, some reshaped by time, not unlike the story of Hanukkah itself. During this time, I’m holding close to the idea of sanctuary: safety, warmth, light, and care for one another.” Listen to both tracks below.

Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schultz