Today’s music video of the day is the deeply unsettling video for Meg Myers’s Numb.
For the first minute or so, this video reminds me of Office Space. It then goes on to make me think about last year’s controversial Mother! And then, at the end, I can’t help but think about the 2011 Brit Marling film, Sound Of My Voice.
That’s not necessarily the happiest message in the world, unless you happen to be one of the rich kids. But it’s definitely true. I was recently talking to a friend of mine about how almost all of the writers and artists that we admire were able to spend years developing their craft because they didn’t have to worry about actually paying any bills. It’s a lot easier to write the great American novel when you’re not having to deal with a day job or anything like that. For that matter, it’s a lot easier to break into films when your mother is Meryl Streep or your father is Tom Hanks.
(Sorry, but it’s not as if the Gummer sisters are exactly popping with screen charisma.)
(And don’t even get me started on Chet Haze…)
I mean, let’s just be honest here. North West has a better chance of making the best seller list than most of us do.
Of course, it’s not just in the arts where it helps to be a rich kid. Would Andrew Cuomo even be a dog catcher in New York if his name was Andrew Jones? Would George W. Bush have ever been President if his name was George Davis? Would the banal thoughts of Chelsea Clinton rate thousands of retweets if her name was Chelsea Smith … well, you get the idea.
Anyway, beyond the message, I like the dreamy sound of this song and the look of the video.
Much like yesterday’s video, this is another video on which me and Evelyn disagree. She thinks that it’s about being young and free in Russia. I think it’s about vampires.
My friend Evelyn and I have been debating whether or not this video is supposed to be about vampires or not. Her argument is that it’s obviously meant to be about being young and celebrating life. My argument is that the video reminds me a lot of Jean Rollin’s Two Orphan Vampires so obviously, the video must be about vampires as well.
Ever since Evelyn (a.k.a. my best friend in the entire world) first introduced me to her music, I’ve always enjoy the reliably strange videos of Adi Ulmansky and this one features a black cat!
Today’s music video of the day is the fourth video to be directed by Sofia Coppola. Distinguished by the black-and-white cinematography of Lance Acord (who was also the cinematographer for Lost In Translation) and the choreography of Robin Conrad, this video may be best known for Kate Moss pole dancing but it’s atmosphere of romanticized ennui will be familiar to anyone who has seen any of Coppola’s films.
(As well, pole dancing would also be prominently featured in Coppola’s later film, Somewhere.)
As for the song, it actually has a pretty long history. It was originally written in the early 60s by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was first recorded in 1962 by Tommy Hunt but the first performer to actually find success with the song was Dusty Springfield in 1964. It was subsequently covered by Dionne Warwick and Marcia Hines before The White Stripes released their version in 2003.
Today’s music video is the video for AIR’s Playground Love.
This song was recorded as a part of AIR’s score for Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides. The video, which is largely made up of footage from the film, along with singing wad of chewing gum, is credited as having been directed by both Sofia and Roman Coppola.
(While not as well-known as his sister, Roman Coppola is a frequent collaborator with Wes Anderson and he also directed an excellent film called CQ.)