James Blunt’s “Wisemen” Lyrics Meaning

In his own words, James Blunt once stated that this song is about escaping from the pressures to conform to social norms.

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for James Blunt's Wisemen at Lyrics.org.

In this case it is imperative to quote him directly as the meaning of this song has never been definitely ascertained by the singer’s fans, due to the complexity of its lyrics. So in this post, we are going to make an attempt to understand what exactly James is talking about while taking into account the aforementioned statement.

Narrative

In the song’s lyrics, the narrator is addressing someone who is seemingly a romantic interest. And this lady wants him to tell her about his relationship with “the wise men”. James states that these individuals “came down from heaven”. So at least to some degree we can conclude that they are perhaps spiritual beings, i.e. being representative of an idea more so than actual people.

And it seems as if they have some type of an influence on the singer. But ultimately they come to regret their actions. And why? Because in their attempt to just try “to have some fun”, they have apparently led the singer astray. Also they “got a semi by the sea” which is apparent, to some degree, symbolic of the aforementioned ‘escape from society’s pressure’.

But who really are the “Wisemen”?

So in an attempt to actually flip the lyrics of this song in a way that makes sense, the “wisemen” would actually represent the singer’s desire to live a free life along with his “vices”. But doing so has apparently led to him/them being ostracized. 

So considering the statement James Blunt made which is quoted at the beginning of this post, he is attempting to enlighten the listener to the fact that yes, he/she can follow their own rules, i.e. “the wise men”, in the way an individual decides to conduct him or herself. But doing so will also result in them becoming outcasts. So not fearing the prospect of such is apparently what he means when he refers to a lack of fear in “doing your own thing”, as the inevitable consequence would be being cast aside.

So this our attempt to present a simple explanation to a complex song.  But once again going back to Blunt’s own elucidation to its meaning, we know that at the end of the day it is intended in some way, shape or form to point to the idea of individual freedoms.

Lyrics of "Wisemen"

Facts about “Wisemen”

In addition to James Blunt, there are two other writers of this song. They are:

  • Jimmy Hogarth
  • Sacha Skarbek

Aside co-writing this tune, Hogarth and Skarbek also co-produced it.

“Wisemen” came out as the second single from Blunt’s maiden album, “Back to Bedlam”. It was released as such on 7 March 2005. Other notable songs released as singles from Blunt’s bestselling “Back to Bedlam” are as follows:

“Wisemen” charted in over 10 countries, including scoring a number 1 in Belgium and in the Czech Republic. And in Blunt’s own homeland, it broke the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.

There are two official music videos for this song, which were respectively directed by Mark Davis and Paul Minor.

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