Defeating Heartbreak And Sorrow: Enter the 36 Chambers

If you are anything like me (apart from biological similarities) then you've probably felt the harsh sting of a broken heart, or any of the other countless variations associated dealings with the opposite sex. I won't lie to you. That's not my job. My job is a glorified babysitting position that occasionally permits me to turn computers off and on. But that my friends, is neither here nor there.

Love is a poison. It hurts, like a bee sting, like getting your fingers slammed in a car door, like getting hit by a sledgehammer. A million different hurts. And when lost and lonely, people turn to music. And that's a great idea. But what are they turning too? The stuff that will make them even sadder. When my heart is smashed into so many shards my first inclination is not to cry myself to sleep to "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (as if that could make me cry anyway) or like all Nick Cave songs, or "Blacvaginafinda". Why would anyone want to do that to myself?

"I just lost the girl of my dreams. I say, why don't I spin that new Pedro The Lion record, see if he's feeling what I'm feeling, except he's probably feeling it in a more non offensively very subtle Christian way."

No. That's what I call needlessly emotional. Melodramatic maybe. Now if you want to wallow in your sadness, truly, I don't care, but if you want to raise yourself up there is only one option, and that option is Enter Wu Tang (36 Chambers).

Think about how vulnerable you feel after a harsh break up. How torn up you are, how the tears come unbidden, how everything reminds you of your former lover. You are lost, adrift in a big sea of shit, aren't you, you little mopey fuck? But does it have to be that way? The answer, mon frere, is a resounding NO.

Try this. Find a good wing-man, a friend who will listen when he/she (but probably a he) has to and give advice when it is needed, and tell them, "Sit shotgun, we're going for a ride." And turn it up real loud and listen to the poignant declaration of

That is the RZA, leading the charge. Now I'm sure the RZA has had his share of heartbreak. I would set my watch to it. But he gets up. He gets up to the point where he can demand of the world, quite convincingly, to "bring da motherfucking ruckus". Ghostface Killah and Raekwon jump on board and lay down their own fevrent verses, the beat is grimy (like the whole album) and the MC's are urgent, powerful, and utterly devoid of melodrama. The corn-ball nonsense that would infect later releases is nowhere to be found, all we got here is pure unadulterated beauty.

The album is one large group therapy session. Your best friends are gathered around you to erase the memory of the dumb bitch who broke your heart, she who pulled it out of your chest, spit on it, shat on it, burned it, and then shoved it back in, just because she could. The smart kid who always knew too much for his own good is there, the RZA, he's telling you not to worry about it. The quiet warrior the GZA has the calm words to soothe any ailment, he reminds you that friends are what matters in tracks like "Clan in da Front" and you find yourself believing his earnest precise flows, because there is something in his voice that tells you that he'll be there, through thick and thin, bro's before ho's. Always.

Method Man is your charismatic good looking friend who always gets the girls you want, but somehow, he's such a good guy to you that you don't really care, and you appreciate his kind words. How could you not? He's the most popular guy at school and all he gives a fuck about is making you feel better. Respect is due.

Those two assholes who you've never much liked Ghostface Killah and Raekwon are there too, and for once they are being relevant, not just doing their own thing and rubbing it in your face. Raekwon of course is smoking cigars and stuttering, and Ghostface Killah is telling you that he vows revenge on the bitch, that you don't have to worry about shit, Ghost has got your back now. It's oddly comforting, even if you don't usually see eye to eye with them.

Ol' Dirty Bastard is there, irreverent as ever, but still at the top of his game, still able to put a smile on your face, because that's just how he rolls. He fills the room with his unexplainable charisma, his off kilter insanity is just what you need in vulnerable times such as these. Whenever he opens his mouth you realize that you didn't need that bitch nagging your ass into the ground over every last thing, didn't need her giving you guilt trips. What you needed was Dirt McGirt, Osirus, Big Baby Jesus, the one, the only, Ol' Dirty.

Inspectah Deck sticks to the shadows, even though he seems to be everywhere at once. You feel at once an affinity with the Rebel INS, even though no one seems to give him the credit he deserves. He makes you feel good, gives you inspiration that you couldn't get from the others. In a crew of larger than life personalities, it takes a true star to shine, but maybe an even truer one to hold the goddamn house up. When you hear the good Inspectah's voice you feel a deep comfort in your heart.

U-God and Masta Killah aren't around much, but they pop in to make sure you're alright. You know they mean well, and you know they interest you, and when your heart has healed a bit, you'll party with them, you'll learn from them, and everything will be better.

I challenge any of you out there, to get on the freeway, roll down the windows, and blast "Da Mystery of Chessboxing" and not feel something profound, not feel the righteous wind at your back. The song will infect you with a desire to live, a desire to survive, and not only survive, but to thrive and find happiness again.

If you thought it was impossible to be that inspired the next track will prove you wrong as the RZA once again sounds off an excellent war slogan, "Wu Tang Clan ain't nuthin to fuck with!" Just replace "Wu Tang" with your name and it becomes a therapeutic journey into your soul, and does its best to convince you that you aren't one to be fucked with. You are an individual, you are unique, you are not her fucking doormat, you are NOTHING TO FUCK WITH. You've earned better than that. You are better. You must be.

"Tearz" is a poignant tale, the most hard hitting track on the album, not for the brutal strength but for the telling weakness. The RZA handles the first verse and Ghostface supplies the second half. The RZA tells a tale about a little boy going to the store for some bread, but he gets mugged on the way back home. The little boy was "...brave, looked him in the eye and said 'No'!". The little boys brother is alerted of the news and the manic panic in his voice and he adjusts to the news is truly heartbreaking. "I saw the blood all over the hot concrete, I picked him up, then I held him by his head, his eyes shut, that's when I knew he was, AH MAN, how do I say goodbye, it's always the good ones that have to die."

Ghostface has another woe begotten tale, this one of a playa contracting the HIV virus from a loose woman. He ignored pleas to take "this raincoat and practice safe sex." He should have taken that raincoat. "No life to live, Doc says two more years, so after the laughter I guess comes the tears."

How can we hear such tragedy and then still complain about the relative easy heartbreak we've just endured? If nothing else, "Tearz" puts things into brilliant focused perspective. Unless your brother got murdered practically before your eyes or you didn't take the raincoat and got HIV you have no grounds to complain about a battered heart. We've all felt the sting. We all live with. The Wu-Tang Clan don't just live with it. They imbibe the pain, they make it part of them, they channel it into strength.

I believe it was Aeschylus, who said, "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom, through the awful grace of God."

The Ancient Greeks could not possibly be asked to endorse such a paramount human achievment like Enter Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) but the Clan has clearly taken a cue from the old masters. They have taken the pain of the world, the pain that afflicted their collective hearts, and even in the midst of their own trials and tribulations, turned it, perhaps even unknowingly, into the sage like wisdom that shines through on this beautiful, beautiful album.

Honestly, it should not, will not, and can not let you down.

Alex Cesario Siquig Esquire

This article is lovingly dedicated to Ol' Dirty Bastard and the family he left behind.