Singer-songwriter Regina Spektor made her debut on this week's Music Corner with a special holiday episode, reviewing songs from Gwen Stefani, Hanson, DMX, and Sia."I'm Jewish, but then again, most Christmas songs were written by Jews. I am a true authority on Christmas songs," says Spektor.And she didn't hold back. After hearing Hanson's track, Spektor noted a holiday song, "has to be pure, pure joy. Otherwise it just becomes the sound of capitalism."The holidays are particularly important to Spektor, who moved to the U.S. at the age of nine from Moscow, back when it was the Soviet Union."Religion was illegal, so nobody got to practice their religion. And then when we came to New York.. it was the first time anyone in my family had the chance to explore Jewish culture, Jewish roots, and then all of a sudden it felt like, 'We can't put up a Christmas tree,' or like, 'We can't sing Christmas songs," says Spektor.Spektor revealed that she can't bring herself to write a Christmas song just for profit."I definitely wouldn't want to do it for like personal gain. Maybe for charity. I would feel good because I'd be like, 'Hey I'm just bringing Christmas songs for like this charity and it's okay because the money is going over there," Spektor added.Watch the segment below for more on the holidays and to see how Spektor ranks Hanson's level of holiday spirit to that of DMX.
This segment originally aired Dec. 19th, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
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