Jack Black and Jack White Finally Team Up, to Comedic Effect, on Tenacious D Single
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The color pin wheel of celebrity Jacks finally reaches peak monochromatic glory as Jack Black and Jack White have a long-overdue collaboration in Tenacious D’s new single, “Don’t Blow It, Kage,” produced by White and released on his Third Man label.
The song came out as a limited edition 45 last week for Record Store Day Black Friday, but has just gone up for streaming on Tidal (White’s service of choice, of course), Spotify and other digital sites.
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White’s contribution, besides having produced the tune live in Third Man’s “blue room,” is to serve as the very meta song’s towering subject and, eventually, late into its two-minute length, a guest star.
“Jack White invited us to party, he wanted us to kick out the jams,” Black sings to his guitar playing partner, Kyle Gass, warning him: “Don’t blow it Kage, just play the best shit you’ve ever f—in’ played.” Twists ensue in short order as Gass delivers a brief acoustic guitar solo, only to have Black lament, “That sucked, you did not f—in’ party… / Jack White is drinkin’ a Bacardi / You did not f—in’ kick out the jams / You blew it, Kage, you played the worst shit you’ve ever f—in’ played.”
But wait — suddenly White is in the studio, for a spoken cameo, in which a reversal of seeming fortune is in order for Black’s poor, beleaguered partner. Without revealing all spoilers, perhaps it is revealed that it’s Black, poor judge of jam-kicking acoustic guitar solos that he is, who has really blown it in this musical love triangle.
Black had previously posted a preview mini-documentary, dubbed “Jack Gray,” about the duo’s trip to White’s facilities in Nashville and said the recording session in Third Man’s “blue room” took place “in record time—that was a really fast recording session.” There may be a good reason why: the tune lasts exactly 2:00, and does not appear to suffer from a surfeit of overdubs.
It’s as larkish as larks go — but a historic one that may finally put an end to years’ worth of jokes about what would happen if these two stars ever entered each other’s orbits. Or will it? White might have to produce a full Tenacious D to penetrate the public consciousness enough to firmly establish in the public’s mind that ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony.
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