Tribute (song)

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“Tribute”
“Tribute” cover
Single by Tenacious D
from the album Tenacious D
Released July 16, 2002
Format CD
Recorded The Boat in Silver Lake, Los Angeles
Genre Comedy Rock,Hard Rock
Length 4:07
Label Epic Records
Producer The Dust Brothers
Certification Platinum (ARIA)
Tenacious D singles chronology
Tribute
(2002)		 Wonderboy
(2002)
Tenacious D track listing
"One Note Song"
(2)		 "Tribute"
(3)		 "Wonderboy"
(4)
Audio sample
Info (help·info)

"Tribute", or unofficially, "Tribute to the Best Song in the World"[1] is the first single of Tenacious D's self-titled debut album. It was released July 16, 2002.

"Tribute" was the most requested video on Kerrang! TV in 2002. The song is a tribute to what Gass and Black jokingly refer to as the "greatest song in the world,"[2] which Tenacious D themselves came up with, but have since forgotten.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

Tribute was the first song Black and Gass played live as Tenacious D.[4] The song, like many other songs that were recorded on Tenacious D, was originally played on the TV series.[5] During the performance of this song Kyle Gass plays the opening to "Stairway to Heaven". The two songs are both in A minor and have very similar chord progressions, and critics have said the songs sound alike.[1][6][7]

[edit] Synopsis

The song chronicles the band members' encounter with a demon who demands the duo play "the best song in the world" or have their souls devoured. Having nothing to lose from trying, they "play the first thing that came to [their] heads" and it "Just so happened to be / The best song in the world."

In an interview the band claimed that the inspiration from the song came after Jack Black played Metallica's "One" for Kyle Gass, describing it as "the best song in the world",[8][9] leading to a failed attempt to themselves write an even better song, and a discussion of the meaninglessness of labeling any song that way. "Tribute" was written to make the claim that the greatest song in the world had, in fact, been briefly theirs but they had forgotten it, as a paean to the impossibility of reaching musical perfection.

In Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, it is implied that the climax of the movie, a rock-off challenge between Satan and Tenacious D told through the song "Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)", is indeed the incident chronicled in "Tribute", and that the portion of "Beelzeboss" performed by Tenacious D is the song receiving tribute. After defeating Satan, JB and Kyle recall the incident once more, describing it as, "the greatest song in the world." Unfortunately, they are unable to remember how it went. Also in the song Beelzeboss, they mention that they know the demon's weakness, referred to as his "rocket sauce", which is what they use in their HBO television series to defeat the demon.

[edit] Music Video

Jack Black and Kyle Gass in "Tribute" video.
Jack Black and Kyle Gass in "Tribute" video.

The music video for Tribute, directed and edited by Liam Lynch, features Jack Black and Kyle Gass, in a cheap shopping mall karaoke booth, rewired to record their tribute to their encounter with a demon and the song they sang for him, which saved their lives.

The video cuts between footage of the pair walking down the "long, lonesome road" and the encounter with the demon played by Dave Grohl. The demon also performs the electric guitar solo in the music video. After the solo, Jack Black jumps out of the booth and starts shouting the lyrics at passers-by and dancing flamboyantly. Passersby include cameos from Lynch and Ben Stiller. A policeman, played by Jason Reed, takes Black and Gass away. At the end an old lady, played by Linda Porter, picks up the now-recorded CD and cackles, her eyes turning red.

Although the video had huge success on UK television - readers of Kerrang! magazine voted for their Top 10 rock videos with Tribute coming fifth[10] - the song was never actually released there as a single. Tribute was nominated for two Music Video Production Association Awards: "Alternative Video of the Year" and "Directorial Debut of the Year".[11] In addition, it was a nominee for best video in the 2002 Kerrang! Awards.[12]

[edit] Critical response

Some critics described the song as being similar to the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band.[6][13][1]

[edit] Cover versions

"Tribute" has been covered by the Dust Bowl Cavaliers, on their 2006 album Bluegrass Wrecks the Music of Tenacious D: This Is Just a Tribute.

[edit] Track listings

CD single (Epic Records #673519 2)
  1. "Tribute" – 4:08
  2. "Cosmic Shame (live)" – 4:28 Recorded at the Cox Arena in San Diego on November 20, 2001.
  3. "Friendship" – 2:00
  4. "Tribute (Video)" – 4:08
  5. "Wonderboy (Video)" – 4:07
Australia and New Zealand CD single (Epic Records #672893.2)
  1. "Tribute" – 4:08
  2. "Cave Intro" – 0:46
  3. "Jesus Ranch (demo)" – 2:14
  4. "Kyle Quit the Band (demo)" – 2:10
  5. "Explosivo (Mocean Worker's Megamix)" – 5:02
Promotional CD (Epic Records #56731)
  1. "Tribute" – 4:08 (Radio Edit)

[edit] Chart performance

Chart (2002) Peak
position
Dutch Singles Chart[14] 26
Australian ARIA chart[15] 4
New Zealand chart[16] 9
Certifier Award
RIANZ[17] Gold
ARIA[15] Platinum

[edit] Credits

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Strauss, Neil. "Foraging for Music in the Digital Jungle", The New York Times, 2001-08-20. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  2. ^ Baltin, Steve. "Phair, Grohl Sing for Dems", Rolling Stone, 2004-07-07. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  3. ^ Williams, Mary. "Tenacious D ‘rocks’ the Wiltern", dailybruin.ucla.edu, 2001-08-26. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  4. ^ Kaiser, Lindsey. "'Pick'ing out their Hollywood destiny", dailytrojan.com, 2006-11-21. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  5. ^ "HBOwesome", dailytargum.com, 2003-05-22. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  6. ^ a b Price, Simon. "Iron Maiden, Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle", The Independent, 2006-12-24. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  7. ^ Anderson, Eric. "The 'D' drops", fairfieldmirror.com, 2001-10-04. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  8. ^ Emily Watson and Lauren Thompson. "The D contemplates rock-off for soul and the perfect groupie", The Daily Texan, 2006-11-22. Retrieved on 2007-01-01. 
  9. ^ JimmyO. "INT: Tenacious D!", JoBlo.com, 2006-11-22. Retrieved on 2007-01-01. 
  10. ^ "Nirvana hit tops rock video poll", tcm.ie, 2004-04-09. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  11. ^ News Archive. Retrieved on January 24, 2007.
  12. ^ "The Kerrang! Awards 2002", contactmusic.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  13. ^ Waldman, Dave. "Tenacious D makes move into music", gwhatchet.com, 2001-09-27. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 
  14. ^ Discografie Tenacious D (Dutch). Dutchchars.nl. Retrieved on 2008-02-14.
  15. ^ a b Tenacious D. australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-14.
  16. ^ Discography Tenacious D. Charts.org.nz. Retrieved on 2008-02-14.
  17. ^ Top 50 Singles Chart #1333. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
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Tenacious D
Jack Black · Kyle Gass
Jason Reed · John Konesky · John Spiker · Dave Grohl
Studio albums
EPs
Singles
"Tribute" · "Wonderboy" · "POD"
Songs
Video and theatrical releases
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