Song Review: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

The first song on “Eternal Sunshine: Act 1 (The Pledge)”, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is a looped segment of background music from the movie that shares the same name. The music is a slow movement of violins that progresses in loudness and also builds up towards the end of the song.

Being the first song on the album, this is probably also the first song anyone ever listened to of the type. Name another hip-hop song that uses a movie score as the only music, no drums, no fancy booming bass-line, just violins and what sounds like a classical composition. Just like everything else Electronica does, this song does not fit the mold of a traditional hip-hop song, but in the end, fills the void for ingenuity that I’ve come to look for in music, just as the last line states “No drums, no hook, just new shit.” Electronica knows just what he is doing, breaking the traditional mold of verses and a hook, or sampling music, then adding drums to it.

Electronica’s delivery is fast-paced, and with intricate rhymes, a few rewinds will probably be necessary to get the whole message. However, the technicality and skill in the rhymes are very apparent in every line: the syllabication and pronunciation of every word and sound, fit together perfectly- even when they shouldn’t (superman and Lutheran don’t rhyme… do they?)

Content is what makes Jay Electronica so special. Jay’s rhymes make material aspirations seem petty, drawing and questioning on matters of life, rendering them unarguably superior.

While most hip-hop is stereotyped (and for good reason) with having no true importance or meaning, and for placing value on all the wrong subjects, Electronica expands the boundaries of a listeners mind by pondering and preaching things that go way past material objects, money and power, and into the depths of mankind, and what humanity really consists of.

Electronica downplays the role of religion, relative to the differences that every person shares, he questions the motivation of those who try to live up to the standards of said religion, he mocks the naive agenda of our society: only giving airtime to ignorant artists, making meaningless music because it sells, the aspirations of fame, and the screwed-up ideals in modern day hip-hop.
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is a good example of how Jay Electronica is able to shed light on a vast array of different subjects, while keeping his own ideals intact and presenting them bravely to listeners in a way that makes you feel like he is telling you what you KNOW you SHOULD believe, but isn’t always the easiest to follow through with- because of pressure to conform in society.

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” Rating (1-5): 5

 

She said she never fell in love with a superman
Christian, Muslim, Protestant, Lutheran,
I told her that being a mortal is the portal to the true nature of growth; 
The Christ like Buddha man
That’s why I never spit the traditional garbage of a night fight, bright lights, white ice to the fans
The radio is just a stereo, like the house ain;t a home, 
And a chair is just a chair, ask Luther Van
Go to work; go to church let your dreams die
Bowtie, final call, and a bean pie
Yarmulke for Hanukkah, wish list for Christmas
This is the gist of the life that we lead, why?
So you can fit in, with the close minded in the sit-ins, and get clotheslined in the ed-end
I could care less about a plaque and Bidd-enz or get Punk’d on TV by my frid-ends
Don’t get a nigga wrong, 
I get tempted by the rewards that all come along with making nigga songs
But what does it mean if I’m a Muslim and you a Jew and because of that alone we don’t get along
And when you talk like this, and try to walk like this the radio stations’ll never put a nigga on
Just Mims, just Fifty, just Wayne, just Jeezy, Dem Franchize Boyz, and Jimmy Jones
Fuck that, fuck rap this God-Hop,
King-dom mu-sic for the hard rocks
I’ma spit it till T-R-L get it and Hot ninety-seven hit the nigga with a bomb drop
Ask Flex, ask Slay, ask Who Kidd
Just Blaze said Jay is the new kid
I took Eternal Sunshine and I looped it
No drums no hook just new shit