Tenacious D
2001 | Rock
The second decree: no more pollution, no more car exhaust, or ocean dumpage. — From now on, we will travel in tubes...Get the scientists working on the tube technology, immediately. —-Third decree: no more rich people and poor people. — From now on, we will all be the same, ummm, I dunno, I gotta think about that...
Trivia
- The album was produced by The Dust Brothers & featured music videos directed by Liam Lynch & Spike Jonze.
- The recording session for the album began with a two-day session at Neil Diamond's ArcAngel studio in Los Angeles where initial drum tracks were recorded.
- Tenacious D did not achieve chart success after its release, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America by the end of 2005.
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
This takes me back to high school. Tenacious D, ever at the pinnacle of absurdity, brings us a tale about reckless revolution. I guess you could call it a guide on how NOT to revolt. Breaking the windows of small businesses? Please, read some Bastiat. The shift after the revolution is won has some interesting points, though. Legalizing marijuana? Cool, legalize everything else while you're at it. Decree 2 goes to show just how truly insane it is to "decree" anything at all. "No more pollution!" he says, and then beckons "the scientists" to figure out how we will all transport ourselves in tubes. Insanity, and yet this is the exact kind of thing real governments do. Fuel efficiency standards for vehicles are legally required to reach certain insane thresholds in a few years, but is there any thought from anyone how this will be done, or what the costs of compliance will be? Of course not. Decree 3 goes on to insist there should be equal wealth among all people, but Jack suddenly has no more information on how this is to be achieved. Much like real socialists! They suggest a nice-sounding idea and hide from the consequences or strategies required to achieve it. Then, we have a nice nod to political betrayals and murders. Fun as hell!
Sherry Voluntary
Tenacious D is not only hilarious, but they also rock! This song expresses a frustration with government that I think all of us have felt at one time or another. I don't know anyone who hasn't fantasized about blowing it up or burning it down at least once in their lives, and for some of us an email more. The story here is great though and I think in the end shows the problem with violent revolutions. They may start off with the intention of throwing off the shackles of tyranny, but in the end you're generally left with people who want to rule the rest of us.
Nicky P
Can we say Green New Deal? I couldn't have acccidentally planned this particular song to fall in a better place...but lets start someplace else. After they topple the government for it's malfeasance and criminality the entirety of this song is one big leadup to the idea that no one can be trusted with political power. It can only end with those in power scrambling to keep it. Mans hubris is perhaps more lilkely than death or taxes. Best friends murder each other for control and it doesn't even sound outlandish, quite the contrary, we see it unfold all the time as presidents talk shit on their predecessors only to hobnob with them when theyre out themselves. So as if this point weren't enough to rest on they use the decrees to show exactly how people in power even with the best of intentions for everyone will inevitably over-promise and demand that society shape to their will. "Polution is over, scientists do the thing i want you to do, not the productive thing society was incentivizing you to do." How about we demand an imnpossibility simply because it sounds nice. "Everyone equal now!" Too bad one man was born without a leg, it appears we must all cut ours off. It's odd to me that Tenacious D would pen such an openly libertarian song but i suppose 2001 was a much different time. Hollywood has had almost 20 years to wipe any semblance of support for liberty from its maw.