Jim Carrey’s favourite song about his favourite number: “Coincidence? I think not”
Ever developed an obsession with a particular number? Initially, you think it makes your life quite mysterious and enigmatic, like you’re some kind of shamanic maths wizard warning everyone of deep meanings and impending doom.
But then, quite rapidly you realise that pretty much every number can be seen all over the place if you look hard enough, and that it was a complete waste of time. That’s basically what happened to Jim Carrey, except he had enough money to make a whole film about it.
In Carrey’s case, the number he got completely obsessed with was 23, although to give him some credit, that’s actually a number that other people are very hung up on as well, albeit as mentioned, without any real basis that it’s any different to any other number in practice.
According to my in-depth research (typing ‘23’ into Google), the number is a ‘sexy prime’, which apparently is a prime number that differs from another one by six. And while some attribute its importance to Psalm 23, the one about the “Lord is my Shepherd”, there’s also something in popular culture called the ‘23 enigma’ which has led several artists to go completely over the top about it.
That has been credited to the writer William S Burroughs who, it seems, developed his own obsession with the number due to knowing a ship captain whose boat capsized after he boasted of 23 years of sailing without an accident, and later that evening hearing of an airliner, Flight 23, that had crashed. Both Captains were named Clark. [Insert dramatic music here].
Two bands, the KLF and Gorillaz, also wove the number into their output, the former burning a lot of money back in 1994 and then refusing to discuss it for 23 years, and the latter actually devoting an entire page of their group autobiography to the ’23 enigma’.
Carrey is someone who has always had a deep connection to music, performing live guest spots regularly, releasing a country song with The Eels in 2013 and providing inspiration for the likes of Eminem and Kid Cudi. His love of music is well documented, but it doesn’t escape his obsession with that number, as one of his top song choices displays all too well.
In picking out some of his favourite tunes, Carrey went with the funky soul tune ‘Strawberry Letter 23’ by The Brothers Johnson, saying, “Classic lost song from the ’70s. Makes you wanna be on roller skates, with a disco ball. Coincidence that the number 23’s in the title? I think not”.
Probably not a coincidence, Jim, no, let’s be honest. Carrey, of course, rolled his numerical fascination into a 2007 movie literally called The Number 23, which did surprisingly well. He was already very aware of the number and had named his production company JC23 when he apparently was handed the script while he was reading a book about Psalm 23, which sounds…unlikely, but here we are.
It would appear filming on the project was equally annoying, with cast and crew members taking on the obsession; Virginia Madsen noticed her daily parking spot was 23, and that she had married her husband 23 years earlier, which is ridiculous and clutching at straws. Nevertheless, at the end of the year, Carrey was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for ‘Worst Actor’, so there is some justice.
Meanwhile, if you want to go on your own obsession with the number, you’ll find it recurs in JJ Abrams’ creepy island drama Lost, and in several books about the Illuminati, but to be honest, you’d be better off doing research into confirmation bias.
