Matisyahu Covers Played on Ukuleles

For some reason, if you search YouTube — I’m still not sure how I figured this out — you will find tons of videos of people covering different Matisyahu songs on ukulele.

This strange combination, of Hawaii’s most famous instrument and Hasidic Judaism’s most famous reggae singer, seems like the musical equivalent of putting sweet & sour sauce on knishes. Yet, similar to putting sweet & sour sauce on knishes, it works. (Don’t ask me how I figured out that one, either.) It isn’t even the same song — you can build a virtual Matisyahu discography with all the assorted covers of “Warrior,” “Jerusalem,” “King without a Crown,” and (of course) “One Day” that exist in Internetland.

Here, for no reason other than that we think they’re cool, are some of them.

One Day:

What I’m Fighting For:

“We Will Walk”:

Here’s Trevor Hall’s song “Unity.” The original featured Matisyahu:

Another version of “One Day” — you can’t hear much ukulele in this one, but there’s an entire public bus-ful of people (in Jerusalem) singing along.

And here’s one more version of “One Day,” but it’s performed by a 9-year-old, and she’s really good.