If James Blunt’s next single,
“Wisemen” doesn’t cause a controversy, I don’t know what will.
Recently confirmed as the second
single for the British songwriter- whose first single, “You’re Beautiful”,
topped the US Hot 100, the first by a British songwriter since Elton John’s
“Candle In The Wind ‘97” did so in 1997- “Wisemen” is bound to shake many of
the misconceptions the Briton may have evoked with the relative innocence
“You’re Beautiful” conjured. Here, Blunt is at his, well, “bluntest”, singing a
song of anger that’s potentially aimed squarely at two of the biggest
institutions in the world- the Christian Church and American Idol, references
which are bound to raise eyebrows.
Christianity is the first to
meet Blunt’s talons, with the first verse dedicated to what appears to be a
bizarre theory created entirely by Blunt himself that the “Three Wise Men”- or
the Magi- got high off a blunt (okay, okay, I know- I’ve got to stop making cracks
based on his name) one day and decided to “create” the Jesus story. To wit:
“When they came down from Heaven (“Heaven” could be the
Zagros Mountians, the mountain range the Magi needed to pass before getting
into the desert area that leads to Bethlehem)
Smoked nine 'til seven (this is where they got high),
All the s**t that they could find,
But they couldn't escape from you,
Couldn't be free of you (i.e., the drugs),
And now they know there's no way out (as the story’s spread too far for it
to be contained),
And they're really sorry now for what they've done,
They were three Wise Men just trying to have some fun.”
The first two lines of the first
verse are a little tricky, however, since it talks about a girl who wants to
know “what the Wisemen said”- presumably, this could be extrapolated in that
the girl is in fact “Mary Jane”, a common synonym for marijuana. This
interpretation would mean that this was a revelation that Blunt got when he was
himself high (and let’s not doubt for a second that Blunt couldn’t have once
used marijuana- he called one of his songs “High” and proclaimed in “You’re
Beautiful” that “I was f***ing high”). Presumably then, the chorus could be
about how Blunt “gave up” marijuana (“Look who’s alone now”), and the “semi by
the sea” may be an allusion to Israel, which is itself a coastal country and is
wracked by constant internal warfare (the “semi”). Personally, though, I’m
choosing not to read too much into the chorus though, since the exact same
lines will be used later, and here the chorus is kind of sketchy.
The second verse, however, is
even more direct. To wit:
“Really sorry now,
They weren't to know (That
the “Idol” contestants were nothing more than corporate pawns).
They got caught up in your
talent show (“American Idol”),
With you pernickety little
b*st*rds in your fancy dress,
Who just judge each other and
try to impress (perhaps implying that the judging is faked, which on some
accounts does seem accurate, and that the judges are really just there to
entertain the viewers),
But they couldn't escape from
you,
Couldn't be free of you,
And now they know there's no way
out (of their record contracts, “they” being the Idol wannabes here),
And they're really sorry now for
what they've done (for manufacturing stars),
They were three Wise Men (i.e.
the judges) just trying to have some fun.”
There are a few tricky words
here- the meaning of “they” seems to change in the first part of the verse from
meaning “the contestants” to the judges themselves in the last two lines and I
can’t really explain it except to say that the “feeling” of the verse suggests
the two different meanings. In other words, Blunt’s a tricky fellow. As far as
the chorus is concerned, the “semi” becomes the Idol judges’ homes, and has
Blunt making fun of the Idol wannabes’ position by implying his is better
(“Look who’s alone now/It’s not me”).
Personally, I don’t believe in
Blunt’s observations- the marijuana and Magi link has only been established on
pro-marijuana Web Sites, so I’m questioning the validity of that side of the
argument, and the idea that the Magi invented Jesus after getting high is the
first of its kind- nowhere else have I ever seen that theory. As far as
“American Idol” goes, almost every “real” musician has targeted them in the
past, so for Blunt to target them is a cliché.
Could I be wrong and not reading
Blunt’s work correctly? Perhaps- since these are not direct references,
it’s quite possible that what “Wisemen” means is entirely different than what I
make it out to be. I personally believe the allusions are crystal clear, but
that’s just me, and, I would like to point out, like most controversies
surrounding songs, only a cursory meaning is needed- very rarely do the people
who start these things understand the “full” meaning or context behind a song.
As far as “why” I’m putting this forward now- well, I figure that I’d make the
observation first before some group comes out and calls Blunt the “anti-Christ”
or something like that because I don’t think he is- he’s just a guy who’s positing
an opinion, and, while I don’t agree with it, it’s great he puts it forward and
isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Far too often singer-songwriters sugar coat
their meanings, and it’s refreshing to find one- especially a mainstream one-
who isn’t. It’s for this reason that “Wisemen” becomes one of the early
favourites for Single of the Year, because there hasn’t been a song this
interesting in a while.
-DG