How Adam Sandler’s 'The Thanksgiving Song' Went from a Saturday Night Live Bit to a Yearly Tradition

• Adam Sandler played “The Thanksgiving Song” for the first time during an episode in 1992 Saturday night live
• He later included that song on his debut album from 1993. Everyone will laugh at you! and began receiving radio play
• In the decades since, the song has become a comedy classic, and the music has become a key part of Sandler’s comedy

In November 1992, Adam Sandler was sitting behind Saturday night live‘Weekend Update’ desk and changed his life. Sitting next to host Kevin Nealon, he sang, for the first time, “The Thanksgiving Song,” accompanying himself on guitar.

Sandler’s song included lines like “He likes to eat turkey / Because it’s good / He likes to eat turkey / Like a good boy should” and “Turkey for me / Turkey for you / Let’s eat turkey / In my big brown shoe.” His lyrics also included references to pop culture moments, past and present, as Sandler, 58, repeated in 1994 with “The Chanukah Song.” Nealon, 71, also eventually joined in and sang with Sandler at the end.

Photos of Adam Sandler and his family through the years

Sandler’s comedy during his SNL tenure is defined in many ways by his original songs, and in a rare 2019 NPR interview. Happy Gilmore the star explained how music became a key part of his humor.

He started playing guitar in bands in high school, and when he went to college at New York University he decided to start a new one. “And then I saw those guys playing. And they were all literally 20 times better than me. I asked myself, what the hell is going on in this school? They were all Eddie Van Halen,” he recalled.

Kevin Nealon (left) and Adam Sandler on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1993.

Al Levine/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty

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He also started doing stand-up in high school and decided to take it up again. But, he said, “I used to be so scared on stage and so nervous when I didn’t have a guitar. And I would forget my sentences. I would forget my jokes, things like that. And then, when I started playing guitar on stage and singing funny tunes, I had more confidence than usual. At least I could… I knew I could play the guitar a little, and I knew the lyrics already from the song. I said, okay, I remembered that, so let me try it.”

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It worked, and eventually Sandler was picked up SNLwhere he continued with his musical humor.

Sandler wrote “The Thanksgiving Song” with comedy writers Ian Maxtone-Graham and Robert Smigel. Maxtone-Graham will also co-write “The Chanukah Song,” and Sandler and Smigel have become frequent collaborators.

Adam Sandler performs ‘The Chanukah Song’ on ‘SNL’ in 1994.

Alan Singer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty

In 1993, Sandler released his first comedy album, Everyone will laugh at you! He included a live version of “The Thanksgiving Song”. Sandler said Spin 2013, “I had no idea if people were going to like the album… ‘The Thanksgiving Song’ playing on the radio helped a lot; it gave some awareness. ‘The Thanksgiving Song’ was a bit dirty and then people got the record and we hit them pretty hard with some really dirty stuff. I’ve had a few mothers yell at me over the years that their kids were listening to the album in the basement.”

In 1993, Sandler also performed “The Thanksgiving Song” for the second time. SNL — but this time in the style of Bruce Springsteen with more Springsteen-esque rhymes.

Sandler was eventually fired Saturday night live 1995, but “The Thanksgiving Song” lived on. In 1996, “The Chanukah Song” became a hit on the rock charts (and entered the Hot 100), so “The Thanksgiving Song” was released as a single the following year. It reached number 40 on the Adult Top 40 and continues to receive radio play every year.

Sandler also returned to SNL stage with a new song he sang with Andy Samberg — “That’s When You Break” — to celebrate the show’s 40th anniversary.

Sandler’s comedic music continued to be a part of his persona as well. Wedding singer – the 1988 hit film starring Sandler and now frequent collaborator Drew Barrymore – also featured him singing several witty songs and perhaps the sweetest song in his discography, “I Wanna Grow Old with You.” In 2023, he also starred in an animated musical Leo.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education