Since a lot of us have had Jay-Z's "Holy Grail" stuck in our
head, naturally I decided to bring it up on the blog. In Jay-Z and Justin's
"Holy Grail," the Holy Grail represents fame. Both Jay-Z and JT
resent yet also love fame. Both dedicated their lives to their quests for fame.
Yet, what happens once they achieve their goals? They begin to ask was it
really worth it? In the song they also refer to Kurt Cobain (“Kurt Cobain I did
it to myself and we're all just entertainers…(“Smells Like Teen Spirit”) who is
similar to Galahad. Once Galahad achieved the Holy Grail, he asked for
death in return. Similarly, Kurt Cobain committed suicide partially due to his
immense amount of fame. The song also refers to other celebrities and their
falls from fame after achieving the "Holy Grail", such as Michael Jackson, Mike
Tyson, MC Hammer etc.. I’ve never really paid much attention to the lyrics in the
song but after learning more about the Holy Grail I decided to check them out.
I would post the lyrics also but I’m afraid they might be a little too explicit
for the blog…
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5 comments:
I really wanted to believe Megan's argument because this song has been stuck in my head all week long also. I tried REALLY hard to find allusions in the song to the actual story, but had a tough time. So I decided to really stretch the comparisons. My silly comments are in parenthesis.
And baby
It's amazing I'm in this maze (search for grail) with you
I just can't crack your code (cant find the chalice)
One day you screaming you love me loud
The next day you're so cold
One day you're here, one day you're there (the Fisher King’s Palace?), one day you care
You're so unfair sipping from your cup
Till it runneth over, Holy Grail
And we all just entertainers (searching for the grail)
And we're stupid (know its not worth the search), and contagious (Everyone wants to find it because it because of greed)
Now we all just entertainers
You get the air out my lungs whenever you need it
And you take the blade (One in Christ’s side?) right out my heart just so you can watch me bleed
And I still don’t know why
Why I love you so much (The king knows the Chalice will kill him, but still wants it)
(Thanks for warning me )
Yeah
(Thanks for warning me)
And you play this game in spite to drive me insane (the search for the chalice drives everyone insane)
I got it tattooed on my sleeve forever (will he live forever???) in ink with guess whose name
But I still don't know why
Why I love it so much, yeah.
(Thanks for warning me [2x])
Yeah I might have look too hard for comparisons that don't actually exist.. I will call you out on one part, the "and were all just entertainers" part are actually lyrics from Nirvana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" so that part I would try to find too much of a connection to the Holy Grail.
First, I kind of really don't like this song at all- but I do love JT. HOWEVER, I'm seriously impressed by all of these allusions to the Grail legend. I looked at some of those forums where people write what they believe to be song meanings (Tell me I'm not the only one who reads these) for Holy Grail. Most people, like Megan, associate the Holy Grail with fame, and a few people associate it with religion (I think the Kurt Cobain reference makes the fame analogy more likely). Interestingly enough, no comment that I read brought of the Grail legend though.
Maybe I totally missed the point of the song but I took the "holy grail" to mean happiness and mutal love/support. I thought JT was singing about being in a relationship with a girl who he can't leave even though she treats him poorly. However, it's not hard to believe that it has many different meaning and if you look at it from the viewpoint that the grail is fame I agree with Megan's comparison.
They would definitely be too explicit! I agree with you Amy; I thought holy grail meant mutual love as well because he was singing about being in a relationship. I don't like the song that much. It's kind of boring. I enjoyed our discussion with Ms. Quinet the other day about the Holy Grail, Fish King, etc. It was very interesting to see how what those things really were and how they play out in pop culture today.
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