Almost two months ago, my life was changed forever.
Outside of his movie School of Rock, not many people know about Jack Black’s music career. I learned recently that he accounts for half of the comedy rock duo Tenacious D after I was shown an unforgettable video: Fligugigu 10 hours.
The looping video features Jack dressed in a short-sleeve plaid shirt with the buttons undone to reveal his bare chest as he sings the freestyle, scat-like vocals “fligugigu” and dances at a terrifying demon character.
Take a second. Reread that sentence. It’s even more disorienting in video form.
I thought that it was fake. A meme. An edit. I grappled desperately for a rational explanation as I watched the 9 second clip repeat over and over and over. Minutes passed; the loop continued. Baffled, stunned, mesmerized, all I could do was continue watching.
As I snapped out of my trance, I used my superb detective skills (AKA YouTube searching “Jack Black music”) to find the original video. The clip comes from a Tenacious D song named Tribute.
The bizarre song details how Jack and bandmate Kyle Gass wrote “the greatest song in the world” to win a battle with a demon and save their souls. As all musicians know, if you don’t record or write a song down, you will forget it. Tenacious D experienced this phenomenon with the song from their battle. “Tribute,” therefore, is not the greatest song in the world, but only a recount of the experience.
The full-length video only left me with more questions. I watched our intrepid troubadours defeat a demon only for the twist ending to give me whiplash. For a song as old as me, the poor quality video production adds to the story’s charm.
To my disappointment, the song unironically rocks. The harmonies mesh well, the guitar solo creates a fabulous high-point, and the a cappella scat section adds a unique layer to the track.
And now, “fligugigu” haunts me. During the night, long after everyone else is asleep, it plays on repeat in my head. As I try to go about my day and complete mundane tasks of grocery shopping or washing dishes, “fligugigu” crawls out of the dark corners of my mind. I always feel its presence. Jack Black has cursed me. He permanently owns the portion of my brain that is dedicated to “fligugigu.”
Jack Black, who are you? A sorcerer? A demon? A collection of stardust older than our planet? My questions may forever go unanswered, and when forever ends, only “fligugigu” will remain.