Just in time for the first night of Hanukkah, Jewish a cappella group Six13 dropped their latest and perhaps most expansive work to date, a new Hanukkah parody featuring 13 Taylor Swift tunes and a reprise of their T-Swift parody “Shake it off” from 2014.

“In keeping with the theme of her ongoing Eras tour we decided to make it an evolution of Taylor Swift, or, Era-Lution, as we’re calling it,” said Six13 member and Creve Coeur native Lior Melnick. “Parts of 14 songs, in chronological order, spanning 4½ minutes.”

A 4-minute and 21-second music video to be exact, that will leave your face aching for smiling that long.

The St. Louis connections

Melnick, an alum of Solomon Schechter Day School of St. Louis (now Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School) and a member of Traditional Congregation, not only takes a leading role in the video but also plays a significant role in crafting many of the lyrics. His journey into lyric writing for Six13 began with last year’s Hanukah song, “Elton Johnukah,” sparking a newfound passion.

This year, he tackled the challenge of composing lyrics for multiple songs in the medley, demonstrating creativity in mirroring various rhyme schemes and syllable parsings.

“Being able to come up with content for 13 song snippets that would be engaging and operate independently and without repeating too many of the same themes was very demanding and rewarding,” said Melnick, who also made the songwriting effort, a family affair.

“My sister Noga, who lives in St. Louis, also collaborated with me on many of the lyrics,” said Melnick. “She shares my love of Taylor Swift, and it’s a big part of our bond. Our family trip to Israel over the high holidays this year coincided perfectly with the window where the group was developing lyrics, and so she and I–as well as my sister-in-law, Racquel Glickman, also a big Swiftie–had a lot of time together to bounce ideas off of each other. The two of them were very enthusiastic contributors.”

Making Era-lution of Taylor Swift

Six13 conceived the medley idea in late 2022 and began production in August, driven by the urgency created by the timing of her Eras tour. The production process for this medley was unlike anything Six13 had ever done before due to the sheer breadth of the content they were covering.

“Taylor Swift has so many big hits throughout the years, and it was tough work whittling down her remarkable repertoire,” said Melnick.

Throughout the production process, the team worked on crafting lyrics for over 20 songs before deciding on the final selections for the medley. Despite having several successful songs by Taylor Swift in consideration, they ultimately discarded some of them due to dissatisfaction with the lyrics options they generated.

“Our focus was on choosing the best Taylor Swift songs for which we felt most confident about creating parody lyrics that would enhance the overall quality of the medley,” said Melnick.

Following the Oct. 7th attacks on Israel, the group debated long and hard about whether they should change to something less ‘fun’.

“In the end, we agreed that even though the Jewish people and the State of Israelare still in a state of mourning, it’s precisely because of what that attack stood for – the eradication of Jews simply because they are Jews – that putting out a song that celebrates our culture, traditions, and history would be the best way to respond to that unrestrained hatred,” said Melnick.

The songs

0:00 “Chanukah Story” (Six13’s version) | “Love Story” (Taylor’s version)

0:21“Judah Maccabee” (Six13’s version) | “You Belong With Me” (Taylor’s version)

0:37 “They Defiled The Temple” (Six13’s version) | “I Knew You Were Trouble” (Taylor’s version)

0:56 “We May Never Ever Know The Proper Letters” (Six13’s version) | “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (Taylor’s version)

1:18 “Great Neis” (Six13’s version) | “Blank Space” (Taylor’s verison)

1:38 “Sour Cream” (Six13’s version) | “Wildest Dreams” (Taylor’s version)

1:49 “Bad Luck” (Six13’s version) | “Bad Blood” (Taylor’s version)

2:00 “…Ready For it” (Six13’s version) | “…Ready For It?” (Taylor’s version)

2:16 “I’m Proud To Be A Jew” (Six13’s version) | “Look What You Made Me Do” (Taylor’s version)

2:24 “We’ll Never Back Down” (Six13’s version) | “You Need To Calm Down” (Taylor’s version)

2:46 “Antiochus” (Six13’s version) | “Anti-Hero” (Taylor’s version)

3:06 “Latkes” (Six13’s version) | “Karma” (Taylor’s version)

3:16 “Judah and His Brothers” (Six13’s version) | “Cruel Summer” (Taylor’s version)

3:42 “Chanukah” (Six13’s version) | “Shake It Off” (Taylor’s version)

If you would like a complete lyric sheet, you download it here