Tenacious D – Tribute
2002 · Directed by Liam Lynch
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Best comments
1.“Tribute is the 2nd best song ever – next to whatever they played that night.”
More comments
- 2.“This was my wedding song. True story. Still together.”
The story
Tenacious D's origin myth in under five minutes. Tribute was the first song Jack Black and Kyle Gass ever played live as the D, and it started with Black playing Metallica's One for Gass and declaring it the top song of all time. They tried to write something better, failed, and decided the whole idea of a single perfect song was ridiculous. So they wrote a song about a perfect song they can't remember. A demon blocks their road and demands a masterpiece or their souls, they deliver, and then it's gone from their heads forever. Critics heard The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Everybody heard Stairway to Heaven in the chords.
Liam Lynch directed and edited the video. Jack and Kyle wander into a cheap mall karaoke booth, Jack goes at the machine with wire cutters, and the action cuts between the booth and the roadside showdown with the demon – played by Dave Grohl, who also plays the guitar solo. Afterward they spill out into the mall yelling at shoppers. An old lady swings her bag at Jack after he grabs her, a cop (JR Reed, Lee from their HBO show) hauls them off, and the lady picks up their CD with glowing red eyes.
The single came out in early 2002. It barely moved in the US but hit number four in Australia and number nine in New Zealand, and the video was huge on UK TV even though the song was never released as a single there. Years later, The Pick of Destiny hinted that its own Satan showdown was the night in question. Mystery solved. Sort of.
