Album: Tenacious D (2001)

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• Long time ago, me and my brother Kyle here
  We was hitchhikin' down a long and lonesome road
  All of a sudden, there shined a shiny demon
  In the middle of the road
  And he said
  "Play the best song in the world, or I'll eat your souls" (soul)
  
  Well me and Kyle, we looked at each other
  And we each said, "okay"
  
  And we played the first thing that came to our heads
  Just so happened to be
  The best song in the world, it was the best song in the world
  
  Look into my eyes and it's easy to see
  One and one make two, two and one make three
  It was destiny
  Once every hundred-thousand years or so
  When the sun doth shine and the moon doth glow
  And the grass doth grow
  
  Needless to say, the beast was stunned
  Whip-crack went his whippy tail
  And the beast was done
  He asked us: "be you angels?"
  And we said, "nay, we are but men"
  Rock
  Ah, ah, ah-ah-ah
  Oh, whoa, ah-whoa-oh!
  
  This is not the greatest song in the world, no
  This is just a tribute
  Couldn't remember the greatest song in the world, no, no
  This is a tribute, oh, to the greatest song in the world
  All right! It was the greatest song in the world
  All right! It was the best motherfuckin' song, the greatest song in the world
  
  And the peculiar thing is this my friends
  The song we sang on that fateful night it didn't actually sound
  Anything like this song
  
  This is just a tribute! You gotta believe it!
  And I wish you were there! Just a matter of opinion
  Ah, fuck! Good god, gotta love it
  So surprised to find you can't stop it
  A fiery ring of fire
  Rich motherfucker, aw
  Alright
  Alright Writer/s: Kyle Richard Gass, Thomas Jacob Black
  Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 64

• Poodas from Melbourne (rokin), AustraliaI know exactly what this song is about. Please do NOT read carefully but read true because it will be worth it.
  Tribute has two meanings. Firstly it's a tribute to a song that was played by two mere mortals who couldn't fathom such a perfect song. Almost god-like or angel like in it's perfection (sorry - no actual religion intended here). It so happened that the powers to be on that fateful night allowed a small window of opportunity to sing perfection to save their souls. THEY KNOW THEY DID IT BUT COULD NEVER REPEAT IT AGAIN. Thats the first meaning of the story (and pretty obvious too).
  Now for the second meaning. The song is not a tribute to any ONE song. Its a tribute to every awesome rock song that ever existed! That's why there are so many influences in it and why it includes a devil.
  Jack and Kyle are two very rockin' amigos who have a pure lust for rock music and everything that goes with it. This is their tribute and how awesome it has been!
  Thanks for reading. I've wanted to write this for a very long time.
• Megan from Stevenson, AlThese guys crack me up! This song is sooo good! :)
• Junior from Baltimore, Mdthis is actually what I believe to be a tribute to ALL the great, epic bands coming from the seventies. The beginning riff is extremely similar to Wish you were here by Pink Floyd, the "Rock!
  Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, ah-ah" thing sounds eerily similar to something Aerosmith would do, and of course the end riff is Stairway to heaven.
• Pad from Bristol, United KingdomThe song that they are talking about is clearly 'Stairway To Heaven'.
  This song has many similarities with 'Stairway'. Some of the riff's, the occasional stop-start, and in one of the live performances of this song, at the end of it, Jack sings 'And we played the best song in the world' in the same way as Robert Plant sings 'And she's buying the stairway to heaven'.
  I think that this song is a tribute to 'Stairway to heaven'.
• Patrick from Halifax, NsIf you watch the original version of the song from Tenacious D's TV show, Kyle plays multiple riffs from Stairway to Heaven throughout the song. Also, when they played it with the Foo fighters live, at the end Jack sings "And we played the best song in the world... Tribute", he sings it just like Robert Plant sings "And she's buying the stairway... to heaven" at the end of the song.
  
  Everybody saying that it was written about the ending of the movie, keep in mind that the song was written long before the movie was even in progress. The ending scene in The Pick of Destiny was definitely a reference to Tribute though, but the show lasted from 1997-2000, the movie was released in 2006.
• Justing from Orlando , FlThe First Fact is wrong, in the lyrics, they say that the song is NOT the best song in the world, it's only a tribute.
  
  Tribute is the story of the bands encounter with a Demon and how they played the best song in the world to destroy him.
• Joel from Columbia, ScIn the HBO version, some of the lyrics were different. Dave Ghrol does play the devil in the clip. I actually like the second version better.
• Red from Awesometown, --On the tv show on hbo through the song kyle plays the stairway intro,and it has the same chord progression,I think it was probably ORIGINALLY written about stairway but they changed it to be about the song at the end of their movie.
• Arad from Richmond Hill, CanadaAnd to BK TX, Dave Grohl is the Devil in The Original Clip, and In the Movie
• Arad from Richmond Hill, CanadaTo Alex NYC,NY, He Talked about the version of the song that they played in their Television Show. And He's right. They Played the Introduction of "Stairway to Heaven".
• Alex from New City, NyTo Laura, London, England...
  After the music cuts out and JB and KG do the gibberish (scat music) the word the JB says is "Lucifer" (the devil)
• Laura from London, EnglandBk in TX, WHERE in this song is the lyric "And it saved our Butts"? I can't hear it...
  
  Also has anyone else noiticed after the gibberish bit where all instruments cut out, Jack sing something else. It sounds like.."Sophia" but I can find it in any published lyrics anywhere...What is he actually saying?
• Arad from Richmond Hill, CanadaAt first it was a tribute to Stairway to Heaven, but after the band's movie, the Pick of Destiny, came out, it was clear that the tribute was to the song "Beezleboss (The Final Showdown".
• Blake from Moline, IlAnd Jables, If you are ging to use a live internet post, please, please, please use proper grammar. It insults my intelligence when people are dumba**es on the internet. I love you man, but it really gets me mad. Peace and love.
• Blake from Moline, IlHey dudes, maybe it's Stairway, maybe not. It's not a big deal, brah. It's just great as music, nothing more. Personally, I think it's something by the D.
• Jack from Santa Monica, CaHey dudes, JB here. You all need to chill alright? The minor details ain't worth deep frying your balls over, that ain't what The D is all about.
  Peace Out.
  Jables
• Vince from Arlington Heights, IlSome ppl think this song is about "stairway to heaven" thats fine, i agree it does sound a little bit similar, but in TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY, the end of the movie is J.B. and K.G. battling the devil on the street with their music. "aA rock off challange" if you will. Ultimately The D wins and sends the devil back to hell. At the end of the movie, i cant remember if its before or after the credits, but the D is sitting in their aparment talking about the song they played "that one faithful night" and they also say "it was the greatest song in the world" reffering to TRIBUTE by the D, so the song they played against the devil in the tenacious D movie is the song TRIBUTE was written about.
• Anonymous from Los Angeles, CaI think its a reference to Stairway to Heaven because if you watch them sing it Live on MadTV Jack starts singing at the end "And We played the greatest song...in the world...tribute" but sings it the same way Robert Plant does at the end of Stairway to heaven. They end with the same notes and sing it the exact same, coincidence? Probably not
• Bk from Ft. Worth, TxA Couple things...to Jeff, from Kendall Park, the demon in the video is NOT Dave Grohl, though he rocks heinously. I don't know his name, but he is IN the skit...he's the new neighbor that is a writer who becomes annoyed by the D's antics. Either way, I don't know his name, but he now appears in 30 Rock(He's the bald guy). And to the UN-pretentious name of guitar god, yea. You know this and you know that, but I play guitar too, and what you DON'T know is this song. If there are people referencing "Stairway to Heaven," it's because after the line, "And it saved our Butts" there is NOTE-FOR-NOTE the intro to "Stairway to Heaven" So get off your highhorse and I'll get off of mine.
• Izzy from Buffalo, NyGuitarGod, melbourne, calm down! dude, so what if ppl think this sounds like stairway to heavan? its cuz...it does! so get over y'self.
• Jason from San Diego, CaThe first version played on HBO and in live shows had different lyrics instead of "Look into my eyes..." and they were sung over the opening to Stairway. Of course they couldn't use that when recording an album, so it had to be changed. It still sort of implies the greatest to be Stairway by using a similar lyrical style in the replaced words. However, the end of their movie The Pick of Destiny, it implies that Tribute is written as a tribute to a song the D played in the movie, but couldn't remember once the demonic encounter was over.
• Tom from East Lyme, CtActually if people are saying their are similarities between this and Stairway to Heaven, then it couldn't be a tribute to it. "The peculiar thing is this my friend, the song we sang on that faithful night didn't actually sound anything like this SONG"
• Brian from London, CanadaAlso the beggining guitar sounds like Over The Hills And Far Away.
• Tom from East Lyme, CtBrian from Canada, that's a good point, I went back and listened to both songs and the vocal parts both sound very similar. Another mini-tribute to zeppelin perhaps?
• Jeff from Sothington, Ctok well to the ppl that saiy its a tribute to stairway. u are wrong becuase of the line "the song we sang on that fateful night, didnt actually sound anything like this song". meaning the best song wasnt in A minor. and contrary to popular belief this song wasnt inspired by stairway to heaven, it was actually inspired by the song "one" by metallica. jack played it for kyle once and kyle wanted to write something like that, large scale. but they couldnt, so they settled for a tribute to the greatest song.
• Brian from London, CanadaHas anyone noticed that the part where they are speaking giberish (might be another language im not sure) is the same as Led Zeppeli's The Ocean?
• Dj from Oshawa, Canadaguitar god if you want proof that this is a tribute to stairway watch this video http://www.dailymotion.com/visited/search/tenacious%20d/video/x8hza_tenacious-d-greatest-song-in-the-wo
• Jawsh from G-vegas, Sci would like if GuitarGod read all comments that were posted before saying that nobody knows what theyre talking about, and to get their facts straight. like mine. oh and i can own you at guitar
• Norman from Detroit, Mii love how everyone takes this song so seriously. lol.
• Dalton from Columbus, AlMark, i don't get you. Dash a song that honors the greatest song ever. Plus it's actually not half bad. Pretty damn good. Tribute..ROCK!!
• James from Edinburgh, ScotlandGuitar God, the end part IS SUPPOSED to sound like Stairway To Heaven because it is a tribute to Stairway. If possible, try to be a little less arrogant in your future comments, and people might take you more seriously
• Guitargod from Melbourne, AustraliaNobody here knows a single thing what they are on about.
  
  Listen to a MUSICIAN like me, I've been playing guitar for 13 years.
  
  There are over a hundred thousand songs that have similiar chords to Stairway to Heaven, and do you know why??? Because they are the main chords available in A MINOR - a very common key for songs especially guitar. The end of Tribute does NOT have the intro to stairway to heaven at all - he is simply picking notes from an A Minor chord in appregios, it sounds nothing like Stairway to Heaven. The end solo is nothing like the Led Zep song either, it is in the same KEY and therefore has the SAME NOTES obviously and the chords will be similiar. Does every song ever written that contains an A Minor mean it "ripped off" Stairway to Heaven?
  
  Tribute is a tribute to the greatest song in the world, and like many great songs, is open to interpretation. That means there is no set answer, it is written so you can relate to it how you want. But it is in no way a copy of Stairway to Heaven and it does not use any of it's riffs in any part of the song. NO PART OF THIS SONG COPIES STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN - ONLY BEGINNERS THINK THIS BECAUSE IT IS IN THE SAME KEY!!
  
  PS. Led Zeppelin stole the intro riff for Stairway to Heaven - FACT. So get your facts straight.
• Mark from Wee Waa, AustraliaI absolutely hate this song, it really sux
• Lollie from Glasgow, Scotlandi love this song, i sang this to my little cousins at a wedding once, y'know, mouthing the lyrics, and they thought it was the funniest thing ever coz i kept a totally straight face throughout and i was all dramatic!!but great song and video!!
• Adrian from Kingston, CanadaIve got the stairway to heaven live if u want it.. give me ur email and ill send it to you
• Credible from Jacksonville, FlI've heard them play this live, and during that performance they actually changed the ending to the end of "Stairway to Heaven" with different lyrics.
• Jawsh from G-vegas, ScEveryone here is wrong. Transworld's STANCE magazine issue that came out in January 2002 featured an interview from Jack Black and Kyle Gass. In one section of the interview, STANCE asked where the idea for the song "Tribute" came from, and KG responded with this:
  
  "Jack played Metallica's song 'One' and said, 'This is the greatest song in the world.' So I said, 'Wow, that's cool, maybe we should do one.'"
  
  Then Jack says this on the matter:
  
  "So WE started writing the greatest song in the world, and we realized, 'Its impossible--you can't write the greatest song in the world. Let's write 'The Tribute To The Greatest Song In The World.'"
  
  Obviously they think One is the greatest and best song in the world. In the all-acoustic version that was recorded for their HBO series, there is a riff thrown in there from Stairway to Heaven, but clearly its just to get the point across, since most 'rockers' consider Stairway to be the best song in existence.
  
  
• Brian from Grayson, Gathe guitar riffs are based on stairway to heaven and the solo has many of the same chords
• Cara from Perth, AustraliaI don't understand..where is the Stairway reference?
• Ryan from Ottawa, CanadaThey say in the song "Couldn't remember the greatest song in the world" So you cant really base this on a real song. Its Tenacious D, they think up of songs that have no rhyme or reason for example "Spiderman".
• Andrew from Outback, ScotlandDevil went down to georgia?
• Andrew from Outback, ScotlandWow people.
  This song is a 'tribute' to MANY songs that have at some time, and by some people been considered 'best song in the world'.
  The nods to Stairway to Heaven by led zep and working class hero by lennon are obvious, but there are parts of the song that are hints of other songs aswell...
• George from Orleans, MaThis is a tribute to Stairway To Heaven and rightly so. Its one of the best songs ever. Tenacious D never said it out right in the song cause they wanted us to understand, not be told.
• Bob from Olympia, Wahaha liam neeson he is an old actor dude but yeah christine is right its lynch. this is a cool song!
• Christine from Irvine, CaMike D. I think you mean the director/singer of "My United States of Whatever" is Liam Lynch not Liam Neeson.
• Evan from Freehold, NjWell, its not actually a tribute to Stairway to heaven,
  Its only in the live version (The Movie Version) that the intro to stairway to heaven is actually played
  Jack also screams in the end,
  "And the peculiar thing is this my friends:
  The song we sang on that fateful night it didn't actually sound
  Anything like this song."
  SO i dont know
• James from Dartford, Englandlook, nearly every comment on this song has been " oh moan moan moan, its so much like stairway to heaven, boo hoo hoo!".....y cant people just accecpt that they are both excellent songs and who cares if they sound the same. i think what tenacious d have done is very clever and makes a great sounding and hilarious song out of one of the best songs ever written. whats wrong with that?
• Melissa from Baltimore, MiI have the cd with this song on it, freakin' hilarious...if you have only heard this song and not the others,your missing out,seriously,for example:the karate song and the one about city hall haha ----Baltimore, MD
• Jordan from Nunya, GaFirst of all, if that even was Stairway to Heaven, IT WAS A TRIBUTE! "tribute", you kno? the name of the song?Yes, Stiller and the band's drummer Dave Grouhl had chamios in the video. (I cannot spell..)And of course, it is one of the most funniest songs in the world...
• Ryan from Lancashire, EnglandIve got the album verson and and an acoustic version. Are they the two?
• James from Bransgore, EnglandHas anyone here heard Working Class Hero by John Lennon? Man, these guys blatantly stole the guitar of that song.
  
  I like it though.
• Tom from Trowbridge, EnglandIf you were to make a list of the funniest songs of all time then this would be at or near the top.
• Steven from Sugar Land, TxThere are 2 different versions of the song. One version includes drums, electric guitar and bass. That is the one Dave Grohl helped out in. The other version of the song only has guitar and vocal. That is the version where they play Stairway to Heaven.
• Kyle from Brew City/harley Town, WiDefinitely "Stairway to Heaven." The original version of "The Greatest Song in the World," later called "Tribute," has almost exact "Stairway" guitar parts. The intro from and a bridge. My guess is that they changed the song for their album due to copyright/legal and having to pay Zep or whoever owns the rights now for using it. Also, its more original to write your own song anyway.
• Tom from Trowbridge, EnglandOf course it's Stairway to Heaven! I've only heard this song once and it's clear as crystal!
• Luke from Worthing, EnglandThe Foo Fighters did a live cover of satirway to heaven once, does this have any connection?
• Kari from GeorgiaThe intro to Stairway is after about a 2 second silence at the end of Tribute.
• Glenn from Mildenhall, EnglandThey played the Stairway to Heaven riff live, I believe this can be found on "The Complete Masterworks" album.
• James from Fredericton, CanadaYeah guys if you look at the guitar tabs for the song around the part of "when the demond tried to kill us" it is very similar (not exact)to stairway
• Louis from London, Englandwhere is the intro to stairway? I know both songs really well and I never heard that.
• Jay from Reading, EnglandBen Stiller appears very briefly in the video towards the end. Just after they burst out of the small recording booth, Jack Black grabs the arm of a passer-by, this is comedy-actor/director Ben Stiller.
• Brian from Paoli, InAndy, if you listen carefully you can hear them play the intro to Stairway to Heaven in the song.
• Andy from Halifax, EnglandIs that REALY the right song (Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven.") or is that a guess?
• Babysquirrel from Los Angeles, CaThis was first recorded for their short-lived TV show on HBO.

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