If there is one awesome discovery that every young Star Wars fan has made, it would be the truth behind the music played by the Mos Eisley Cantina band. After all, it's somehow inappropriate and completely hilarious to discuss among friends. However, it looks like the franchise has retconned the name of the catchy music. But did they really need to make the change or was this something that has already been established a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away?
One of our core memories from the original Star Wars trilogy films is the jazz music played by the bands in the Mos Eisley cantina and Jabba’s Palace. The franchise even gave it an official name "jizz", thanks to the 1980s novelization of Return of the Jedi by James Kahn, which coined the term “jizz-wailers.”
We're sure that many Star Wars fans got a kick out of this naughty little trivia, but a new discovery might confirm that the franchise is trying to retcon the term. An excerpt from the recent Star Wars short fiction anthology From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi has been shared on X and it seemingly confirms that Disney decided to change the genre of music to “jatz.”
The change is featured in the short story Fancy Man by Phil Szostak which delves into the backstory of Max Rebo, the blue elephant character, and how he found himself performing at Jabba The Hutt's palace on the fateful day Luke Skywalker paid a visit. In the story, Rebo reflects on a moment when he improvised a fresh tune, deviating from the familiar "jatz standards" he typically played.
It's worth noting that while the narrative acknowledges that this musical genre "came to be known by many names, some less palatable than others," it does not explicitly use the word "jizz," which has caused concern among fans who fear the removal of the term and the associated musical style from the Star Wars universe.
So is Disney trying to retcon the iconic music genre? As The A.V. Club suggests, the term "jatz" as a musical form within the Star Wars universe has its own extensive history. This name traces its origins back to a piece featured in a Star Wars fiction magazine dating all the way back to 1993. Interestingly, "jatz" predates the use of "jizz" as a genre name. While the Return Of The Jedi novelization does refer to a musician as a "jizz-wailer," it wasn't until the release of Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina in 1995 that "jizz" as a musical genre was officially mentioned by name.
For now, it's safe to say that using either term would work, but "jizz-wailer" certainly has a distinct ring to it. With that in mind, we're just happy to know that the memorable genre has a name that's just as delightful as the music itself.
