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Knjaz
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 803
Location: Stuck in your computer
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 Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 20:28 |
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Who or what is the "Candyman"? + "Essay"
It just got into my mind...  I read some older topics in which people see the Candyman as a symbol of temptation and well... Stuff...
Okay, I'll get to the point - here's my analysys of this character and the video he stars in:
1. The clothing = Stereotypical pimp, but I do believe stuff goes further than that.
2. The button in the elevator reads (star)1. I think the star means "Number one (on the charts)", or "Pop star life". The pop star life can be also linked to the high rise (Drugs?) of the elevator (into stardom, again, the button), and the...
THE[L]LIFT
Rise to fame - rise to hell. The beatbox ends the same moment. Could the beatbox be the Candyman's voice?
3. When Jay steps out, he jumps over a box (?), and morphs from the nerd (normal person), into some guy with freaky headphones and clothing (again, fashion, it's a slice of luxury and celebrity-ness), not resisting the "temptation". The same moment, a letter falls off off the movie theatre. I have a bad quality video, so can someone please read what's written on the sign, together with the letter that falls off? I really wanna know what it says.
4. He grabs some money from a gangsta on the street. Seems he grabbed more than we thought.
5. He snaps his fingers. Neon porn show ads and some HUGE girl legs show up. End.
6. "I'm here to see the Candyman". J rubs his hands, as if he's waiting for a present from Santa. The "pimp" floats down.
7. J, pushed down by the candyman, falls through the floor. He actually seems to enjoy what happens to him.
8. J falls into a chair clearly visible on the non-buffaloman front cover of the album. The Candyman's been waiting for J, as he's always one step ahead of him (What J wants, that's what J gets - FROM the Candyman).
9. J's hat suddenly becomes a "garden" of Tesla coils (Have in mind while reading this paragraph that his hats are his signature "things"). It electricifies him (Is it probably some sort of a reference to his 8-album contract-signing?), obviously giving him pain. The hat is of the same/similar design as the AFO hat. The electricity probably represents the electronic vibe of the album. Can it be some sort of a "hint" towards what AFO was turned into by $ony? Or is he suggesting $ony's put a leash on his creative control? Have in mind also that a snapshot of him wearing the hat is also on the album cover, so is it possible that Dyna, too, just like AFO was "influenced" by $ony. Also, have you noticed that the Candyman dances around in a room full of furniture, and that his choreography is somewhat similar to the "Virtual Insanity" one (Have in mind that VI took an award for the best choreography)? There's an exit in the back of the room, just like in the VI video. Is J implying that the VI video is/was the root of his problems? After all, it was that video which launched the band into superstardom.
10. After the hat "treatment", J rises back up again, shooting lasers. Kinda feels like he sold his soul for those things. Notice the oddly dressed people - are they symbols of celebrities? What's interesting is that this scene reminds me of a videogame, no? Also, note the slight oddity: The wall in front of which J stands is in dark colors. He's dressed in dark colors. The wall in front of which the girl stands is white, and so is her clothing.
11. Car passes by and bla bla...
12. J chases the car. Note how everything's static in the last "side-scroller" scene.
13. J chases after the car, another "Pop life" thing. This time, there's a girl inside, and the Candyman, who seems to be actually holding the girl hostage.
14. I wish I could do that with my Adidas shoes. 
15. Have you noticed the part where Jay actually starts running after the car after he lets go of it? Sorta like it was with AFO. $ony thought AFO would sell poorly. It didn't. He was hooked up with them again after the big sales.
16. (The candyman's stolen J's voice)?
17. J telephones to the girl. Weird stuff happens. Windows are popping up and down, and the Candyman's suddenly up on the phonebooth, eavesdropping. (Reference to $ony having to put their fingers into absolutely everything? Even a paper shredder (Ooooh, I'd love that)?)
18. Suddenly the girl passes by again.
19. WTF??
20. The Candyman holds the door open for the two. While the illusion inside starts breaking, he's outside, dancing, victorious, happy, having defeated J.
21. The Candyman dances on a streetlight from earlier in the video. I love that scene.
22. J wakes up from the illusion. He's out, out on the street. ("Out on the street" is, as I heard, jargon for a musician whose contract was dicthed by his label. I still don't get this scene.)
23. END.
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Other things:
#1
The beatbox ends as the elevator stops. The Candyman ($ony) apparently steals Jay's voice (creative control) during that hat "ceremony" (record contract signing). The beatbox might be the Candyman's original voice, what might suggest that the interludes #1 and #2 from the AFOTP are actually the Candyman speaking/muttering something to J (Know that robotic/electronic voice from the interludes? It might be a metaphore for the record label's merciless and cold punishments for policy-breaking, or the contract terms themselves), what again in turn, might mean that the "Candyman = $ony" concept was even existant long before Dynamite, maybe even before 2001! However, that must not mean that the Candyman always looked like that.
#2
Aren't the Candyman and "The Mask" so darn similar? That evil face and all... BTW, have you also noticed that the whole video is kinda like a comic, with J having those superpowers and stuff and stuff happenning? (You know, J is a big fan of the Superman comics, so I think he kinda based the video characters on his favorite comic superheroes/supervillians.)
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So, yeah, that's all I had to say... Please comment on my "essay".
P.S.
Anyone has that Dynamite ad with the Candyman "jumping" out of the TV or something? I wanna see it! |
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Maxud
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Posts: 1281
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 20:50 |
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not bad!
normally i dont read posts in that size.
but its well said! i can really accede what you said!
normally i would think in that part "well this guy is funky stoned"
but i think you will never take drugs.
I can really say you cracked a secret code of that video. i thought something like that a time ago. jay said i think "this song is about when a kid grows up to a man" or something like that. your "essay" says the same only with jays eyes. but at the beginning and the end we can see a silly guy with big stupid eyeglasses. i have some photos from jays childhood. he has never worn i think eyeglasses and i want to remember you what he was: "a stick up kid" and lived on the street (live in verona dvd interwiev). maybe sony (or now better the candyman?) added that.
thanks for posting your psychedlic picture frames here 
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maxud braucht funk food denn dann bleibt maxud maxud
tell me if these are ligh years...
dont stop the beat... |
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Costa Grande
Joined: 20 Jan 2006
Posts: 97
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| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 20:53 |
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It's beacause of people like you that we all had to study Dante's Divina Commedia! Damn, jokes apart, I think you're giving too much importance and too many hidden meanings to every scene of the clip.
Anyway I think your essay is possible but, most of all, it's fun (after all I love Jamiroquai and I couldn't be annoied by stuff like this).
I don't know if you missed it (quite hard, if you watched the clip so carefully and so many times), but... how would you explain the fact that Jay plays the girl in the last scenes of the video?
Ever seen the 'behind the scenes'? Jay says he/the director was inspired by a movie! Possibly they even mention the title but I forgot it. |
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Knjaz
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 803
Location: Stuck in your computer
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| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 20:54 |
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Maxud, as I said on MSN just a moment ago, thanks for replying! I really love to recieve comments and criticisms.
Costa, I frankly never have had any thoughts about him playing the girl, but it might be something like "OMG! I've been chasing myself all the time, not resisting small temptations, just to find myself back at where I left off". And it all kinda does end where it started, both physically, on the same street corner, and storyline-wise, with J turning back into the nerd. Still, thanks for the comment! And though the video was inspired by a movie must not mean that it should be identical to what the idea for it derives from. I think J tweaked some things just to give it [the video] a symbolism.
Last edited by Knjaz on Fri Feb 09, 2007 20:59; edited 2 times in total |
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Maxud
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Posts: 1281
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 20:56 |
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hehe
to crack a code like that you need some paranoia
thats the way how you can interpret every scene in it
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maxud braucht funk food denn dann bleibt maxud maxud
tell me if these are ligh years...
dont stop the beat... |
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jameerica
Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 744
Location: Walking in the strawberry fields (with devils!)
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 09:41 |
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Black_Crow_88
Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 131
Location: Turin, Italy
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 11:32 |
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wow, you did a great job!!
I'm sure too that the Candyman is the Sony.. have you noticed that the hair of the candyman and the colour of Sony logo are similar? that light green... I think it's another think to consider.
However the scene in which Jay is under control of the Candyman (Sony) is really expressive.
The sentence on the sign is this:
" VIRgINAL INSIDE Of ME
midni ht show"
And the "E" is the letter that fall down..
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"God bless our high times!" |
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Knjaz
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 803
Location: Stuck in your computer
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 13:25 |
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| Black_Crow_88 wrote: |
wow, you did a great job!!
I'm sure too that the Candyman is the Sony.. have you noticed that the hair of the candyman and the colour of Sony logo are similar? that light green... I think it's another think to consider.
However the scene in which Jay is under control of the Candyman (Sony) is really expressive.
The sentence on the sign is this:
" VIRgINAL INSIDE Of ME
midni ht show"
And the "E" is the letter that fall down.. |
Thanks... Wa... Wa... Wait, Isn't "Virginal inside of me" pronounced pretty much the same as "Virtual Insanity"? Now that can be corelated to him morphing from just the average musician he was, into a megastar, with the VI video. I mean, both the morphing (Read point #3) and the text appear in the same scene, at the same time. There are so many odd coincidences in the video that they're starting to seem less and less like coincidences, and more like subtle clues left behind by J.
Don't read the following text, it's just a bunch of messy, grammatically incorrect blabberings I typed up in a minute or two:
Now, combined with the drastic differences between the AFO TP & AFO, no known reasons for Wallis' and Zender's departure, the "hints" from the FJLIS video, the lyrics from "Runaway" and "DILWUTD", Jay's loud exclamation of the words "BACK TO THE OLD SCHOOL!" during the "Runaway" performance at the Jazz Cafe gig, J not being happy with $ony, the drastic difference between Symphonized [Working title] (Old version of the album, latin/fusion), and Synkronized (New, electronic version), the pre-lovebox interview with KISS 100 FM, I can only say that $ony's been putting a leash on the band's creativity since 1999, if not earlier than then. |
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jameerica
Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 744
Location: Walking in the strawberry fields (with devils!)
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 13:50 |
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Re: Who or what is the "Candyman"? + "Essay&a
| Knjaz wrote: |
2. The button in the elevator reads (star)1. I think the star means "Number one (on the charts)", or "Pop star life". The pop star life can be also linked to the high rise (Drugs?) of the elevator (into stardom, again, the button), and the...
THE[L]LIFT
Rise to fame - rise to hell. The beatbox ends the same moment. Could the beatbox be the Candyman's voice?
4. He grabs some money from a gangsta on the street. Seems he grabbed more than we thought.
7. J, pushed down by the candyman, falls through the floor. He actually seems to enjoy what happens to him.
13. J chases after the car, another "Pop life" thing. This time, there's a girl inside, and the Candyman, who seems to be actually holding the girl hostage.
14. I wish I could do that with my Adidas shoes.
16. (The candyman's stolen J's voice)?
20. The Candyman holds the door open for the two. While the illusion inside starts breaking, he's outside, dancing, victorious, happy, having defeated J.
Other things:
#1
The beatbox ends as the elevator stops. The Candyman ($ony) apparently steals Jay's voice (creative control) during that hat "ceremony" (record contract signing). The beatbox might be the Candyman's original voice, what might suggest that the interludes #1 and #2 from the AFOTP are actually the Candyman speaking/muttering something to J (Know that robotic/electronic voice from the interludes? It might be a metaphore for the record label's merciless and cold punishments for policy-breaking, or the contract terms themselves), what again in turn, might mean that the "Candyman = $ony" concept was even existant long before Dynamite, maybe even before 2001! However, that must not mean that the Candyman always looked like that.
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now those are the most possible things in your essay.
2:
i think that the end of the beatbox simbolises the end of the good times,the start of the superstardom.
4.:
he grabbed more than even he imagined.
7:
jk enjoying being a superstar,but only for a short time.
13:
holding the girl hostage may mean that his job(candyman=sony) is ruining his love life
14:
WE ALL WISH WE COULD DO THAT WITH OUR ADIDAS!!!!
16:
the candyman may be the drugs nearly "stealing" his life not only his voice.
20:
J finally getting what's going on....
now in "other things":
i bet many songs that are on newer albums were already made before they were published. |
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Knjaz
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 803
Location: Stuck in your computer
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 14:24 |
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Re: Who or what is the "Candyman"? + "Essay&a
| jameerica wrote: |
i bet many songs that are on newer albums were already made before they were published. |
That is certain, but there are songs that were written 5-9, or even more years ago, and are certain to be published in the future. I'm talking about songs that are considered to be "unreleased", but pop up like... 10 years after they're first heard of...
C'mon, Jay, pop open that studio vault. We all want the unreleased/unedited material and early studio versions of some tracks! |
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jameerica
Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 744
Location: Walking in the strawberry fields (with devils!)
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 14:30 |
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haahah yeah,i wish they published that on the new album! |
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jamirokaki
Expert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 3472
Location: basque country
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 14:37 |
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you can be right...or this can be just a bunch of paranoias
but i love this kind of deep interpretations 
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***STONED AGAIN*** |
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jameerica
Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 744
Location: Walking in the strawberry fields (with devils!)
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 14:48 |
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lol that was just what i was thinking!
very amusing tho! |
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mr.az
Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 2421
Location: rallying
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 19:29 |
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ok, here we go...
yeah, i said so many times in the official forum that this video is a ''comic'' in so many ways  ...and yeah, said ''virginal inside on me, tonigh midnit show''...but only few people catch me...so i support what you post, in fact i will help you with my pics, necause u think in the way i do about this video...in fact this video is a free-comic to all the jamiroquai fans 
looks here man
the hell appears here
small but anyways u can read the phrase in the cine
jay stole money from a guy in the start...that is a dejavu of what he was doing before start in the music and sign with sony?
even he smell the money
he do that before meet the ''candyman''(sony)
and now the most dark moment of the video-in the way we are looking the video could be the movie when he is on drugs...sad-he meet the candyman and feels pain...as u said could be about the control sony have over him...
after that he start to dance again like nothing happen to him...i think u noticed that knjaz...and the candyman put jay again on the streets...could be a thing open to many interpretations...
and now the car scenes-the best for me obviusly-he is first running in the back of a cadillac and in the end he is near a very old rusted mercury...that is a way for me to say''all looks my cars but i feel so sick of people who think this is the only thing i care, when my music really care''
the girl he cant catch so easy maybe is how all this work dont give him enough time for a real love life...
he jumps from a nice car to a old rusted car...can be something if i look good...
in the end he is under a rain and all looks bad...
soon more
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Only a fool can walk away from me this time
TWM=RDLS
AFO=AUTOMATON |
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Sandriche
Officer & Jamily Coach
Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Posts: 5564
Location: Austraria
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 19:36 |
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this is amazing and mad at the same time...
would be interesting what mr.jay would say to this ..
if this all is true..they needed months of developing this video..do u have that much time in the music biz?..
anyway..interesting stuff u brought up here knaz and mr.az..thanks!
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