Jump They Say

Last week in my course on the Science Fiction Genre at Fordham University, I focused on time travel, and had the students screen (before class, on their own time) The Terminator and 12 Monkeys, and also La Jetée, the brilliant short independent film by Chris Marker that 12 Monkeys is overtly based on, as it is acknowledged in the credits--it is also an unacknowledged, possibly indirect influence on The Terminator. I've previously posted about La Jetée--The Jetty Stream--and Chris Marker--The Marker of Photography, so this is something of a follow-up, and if you've never seen La Jetée, you can see it cut up and not the best quality via YouTube (embedded in The Jetty Stream), although I highly recommend the recent DVD release of the film, coupled with another of Marker's works, Sans Soleil.

In fact, I was interested to learn, from reviewing the DVD for class, that rock star David Bowie was very influenced by La Jetée, has said that he always wanted to use it somehow, and incorporated it into the music video for his 1993 song, Jump They Say, which appears on his Black Tie White Noise album.

So, I found the music video on YouTube and screened it for the class. As it turned out, La Jetée was only a minor element in the video, the main inspiration being the following image from La Jetée:




But there were numerous references to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I was interested to read further about the video in wikipedia--here's a pertinent excerpt:

As the lead-off single, “Jump They Say” received a considerable promotional push from Bowie’s new label, Savage Records (though Arista Records distributed the package in Europe). A striking video was shot by Mark Romanek, depicting Bowie as a businessman paranoid of his colleagues, who seemingly conduct experiments on him and find him a disturbing influence, forcing him to jump from the roof of the corporate building to his death. The video is heavly influenced by Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 film Alphaville, as well as Chris Marker's film La Jetée and Orson Welles' The Trial - both from 1962. The influence from Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey from 1968 is also obvious. The song, while not Bowie’s first release since Tin Machine, was pushed as a comeback single, and reached #9 in the UK charts – Bowie’s first top 10 single since “Absolute Beginners” in 1986, and his last to date.

I would embed the video here, but YouTube says that embedding is disabled by request, so you'll have to go over there to see it, if you care to--here's the link: Jump They Say.

And here are the lyrics, for what they're worth:

Jump They Say lyrics

When comes the shaking man
A nation in his eyes
Striped with blood and emblazed tattoo
Streaking cathedral spire

They say

They say

They say
he has no brain

They say
he has no mood

They say
he was born again

They say
look at him climb

They say 'Jump'
They say 'Jump'

They say
he has two gods

They say
he has no fear

They say
he has no eyes

They say
he has no mouth

They say hey that's really something
They feel he should get some time
I say he should watch his ass
My friend don't listen to the crowd
They say 'Jump'

They say 'Jump'

Watch out

Watch out

They say hey that's really something
They feel he should get some time
I say he should watch his ass
My friend don't listen to the crowd
They say 'Jump'
Juuuuummmppp
Got to believe somebody
They say 'Jump'
Juuuuummmppp
Got to believe somebody
They say 'Jump'
Juuuuummmppp
Got to believe
They say 'Jump'
Juuuuummmppp
Got to believe somebody
'Jump'
Got to believe
'Jump'
Got to believe somebody
'Jump'
Got to believe
'Jump'
Got to believe somebody
'Jump'
They say 'Jump'
They say 'Jump'
They say 'Jump'
They say 'Jump'

And somehow, I can't resist the temptation to contrast this with Van Halen's lyrics for his song Jump:

I get up, and nothing gets me down.
You got it tough. I've seen the toughest soul around.
And I know, baby, just how you feel.
You've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real
Oh can't you see me standing here,
I've got my back against the record machine
I ain't the worst that you've seen.
Oh can't you see what I mean ?

Might as well jump. Jump !
Might as well jump.
Go ahead, jump. Jump !
Go ahead, jump.

Aaa-ohh Hey you ! Who said that ?
Baby how you been ?
You say you don't know, you won't know
until you be here.
Well can't you see me standing here,
I've got my back against the record machine
I ain't the worst that you've seen.
Oh can't you see what I mean ?

Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead, jump.
Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead, jump. Jump!

Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead, jump.
Get it and jump. Jump!
Go ahead, jump
Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!

And all I have to add to all that is, yumpin yiminy!!!!!