I have to admit that this is yet another video that I initially assumed was about vampires. Apparently, it’s not.
My second guess was that it was about the Russian mafia but then they started breaking those plates and I decided that it was more likely that the club was owned by the Greek mafia.
Actually, I think the video’s just about Kristen Stewart doing what she wants and generally kicking ass. That’s why I like this video. The meaning is less important than the style.
Enjoy!
This song, of course, features a sample from David Bowie’s Heroes.
As for the video, I always assume that everyone here is having one last party before a gigantic meteor crashes into the planet and wipes out all human life. To be honest, I tend to assume that most music videos are about humanity’s attempt to ignore the fact that everyone’s life will eventually end in a combination of misery, death, and absolutely horror.
Enjoy!
In my absence, Lisa Marie did quite a great job picking up the slack when it came time to put up a new anime music video. She had quite the eclectic choice of videos that ran the gamut from comedy, space opera, ecchi to drama.
As I continue my return back I thought it was high time to put up a new AMV and this time from an anime I haven’t even seen. It’s actually an anime that even the site expert pantsukudasai56 hasn’t seen but had heard of. The anime in question is the supernatural romance anime film Hotarubi no Mori e.
Just from researching what the anime was about I knew this was going to be one of those shoujo fares that I would need to find time to watch. It helps that the video’s creator, youlazybum, did such a great job pairing scenes from the anime with one of my favorite songs these past ten years, Lauren Aquilina’s “King.”
So, here’s my latest AMV of the Day, “You Can Be King Again.”
Anime: Hotarubi no Mori e
Song: “King” by Lauren Aquilina
Creator: youlazybum
Past AMVs of the Day
Today’s music video of the day is for John Mellencamp’s cover of Van Morrison’s Wild Night.
Back in the day, the opening of this video was the most popular 40 seconds on MTV. I have traveled in a lot of taxi cabs and I regularly use both Uber and Lyft. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some very good drivers but none of them appeared in the 1992 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The driver, in this video, is played by Shana Zadrick, a model who was often compared to Cindy Crawford.
Back in 1994, if you enjoyed this video, you could go down to your friendly neighborhood Musicland (or Suncoast Motion Picture Company) and, for just $19.98, you could see even more of Shana in this commemorative video:
The other good thing about this video is that bassline, which was provided by Me’shell Ndegeocello. Wild Night was released at the same time that Ndegeocello had her biggest solo hit, If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night).
This video was directed by Jonathan Kaplan. A former film school classmate of Martin Scorsese’s, Kaplan got his start directing films like Night Call Nurses and The Student Teachers for Roger Corman. He eventually became a mainstream film and television director. His most highly regarded film is probably 1988’s The Accused, for which Jodie Foster won her first Oscar.
Love and Rockets was an English alternative band, made up of all of the members of Bauhaus who were not named Peter Murphy. From 1985 to 1998, before breaking up to pursue other projects, Love and Rockets released 7 studio albums. Though Love and Rockets always struggled to escape the shadow of Bauhaus, the band was still responsible for some of the best music of the late 80s and 90s.
Their best known song was So Alive, which was a number one hit in both the United States and Canada. The video is highly regarded by aficionados of long legs and backlighting everywhere.
The song was written by the song’s lead vocalist, Daniel Ash. As Ash explained in an interview with Xsnozie:
“I’d gone to a party on Saturday night, and I was married at the time, and I saw this woman over the other side of the room, and I was completely transfixed which is very odd because I was freshly married. It was very weird, but I was completely infatuated by her and so much so that I couldn’t go near her to even speak to her, it was just this overwhelming thing. I can’t explain it to this day. That’s why the first line is, ‘I don’t know what color your eyes are.’ Because I didn’t get that close, I just saw this person in the distance.”
The video was the first to be directed by Howard Greenhalgh, who would later direct the video for Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun.
And yes, Love and Rockets did take their name from the comic book series by the Hernandez Brothers.
This past week saw another great musician pass away.
Ed King was an integral part of the three-guitar sound that made the Lynyrd Skynyrd sound so unique among the other blues-inspired American rock bands of the 70’s. Some have called Ed King the backbone of the band.
He was great either on bass guitar or as the third guitarist. The latter becoming the signature sound of the band’s most popular song and one of their most requested: “Free Bird.”
While it’d be simple enough to commemorate Ed King’s passing with another listen to that hit song, it’s on another much simpler song of the band’s that best typifies the member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. He who helped give them their signature sound and whose laid-back attitude finally convinced him that it was time to leave the band when the atmosphere around it began to turn mean and violent.
Some fans of Lynyrd Skynyrd don’t have good things to say about Ed King. They think he bailed on the group just when they were reaching the pinnacle of their success and popularity. But as the song “Simple Man” says, “Oh, take your time, don’t live too fast.”
That was Ed King. It’s time you joined the rest of your band mates waiting for you up above.
Simple Man
Mama told me when I was young
“Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say
And if you do this it’ll help you some sunny day”
“Oh, take your time, don’t live too fast
Troubles will come and they will pass
You’ll find a woman and you’ll find love
And don’t forget, son, there is someone up above”
“And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won’t you do this for me, son, if you can”
“Forget your lust for the rich man’s gold
All that you need is in your soul
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied”
“And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won’t you do this for me, son, if you can”
Oh yes, I will
“Boy, don’t you worry, you’ll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied”
“And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won’t you do this for me, son, if you can”
Baby, be a simple, be a simple man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby, be a simple kind of man
Lisa tells me that today is Tarzan Day so, in honor of the Lord of the Jungle, today’s music video of the day is Toy-Box’s Tarzan and Jane.
106 years ago, Tarzan made his debut in an issue of The All-Story. Created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan was actually John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke. Born to British nobility, Tarzan was raised in the jungle by a tribe of apes. Tarzan’s great love was an American named Jane Porter. After marrying Jane, Tarzan would divide his time between England and Africa, always returning to the jungle whenever the hypocrisy of civilization became too much for him to deal with.
The character of Tarzan would go on to star in numerous films and television shows. He’s been played by everyone from Johnny Weissmuller to Buster Crabbe to Ron Ely. In the music video for Toy-Box’s Tarzan and Jane, he’s played by Amir El-Falaki. El-Falaki was one half of Toy-Box. The other half, Anila Mirza, plays Jane.
Toy-Box was a Danish pop group. They never achieved much fame in the United States but they were briefly big in Scandinavia. Tarzan and Jane was their biggest hit, especially after it was re-released in 1999 to coincide with the release of Disney’s animated Tarzan. Tarzan was not anything special but it will always be remembered for unleashing the Phil Collins ballad, You’ll Be In My Heart, on an unsuspecting world.
Four years after the release of Tarzan and Jane, Toy-Box broke up but they have recently reunited and performed for a series of 90s concerts.
Hearing this song transports me back to 2003, when life seemed so simple and the future seemed limitless… actually, that’s the way things still seem to me in 2018. I guess I’m a born optimist!
Anyway, I always think of this as being a song of liberation but that’s mostly just because of the title. The lyrics are actually about an independent woman finding the courage to let people into her life. But, ultimately, what matters is how a song — any song — makes you feel.
As for the video, I would say it features just about the safest house party that I’ve ever seen. Compare it to the video for Fiona Apple’s Criminal.
Enjoy!
This video from Phantogram (who are like one of my favorite musical duos of all time) puts me in the mood for apocalypse. The starkness of the interiors reminds me of David Lynch. The crashing waves reminds me of Jeff Nichols’s Take Shelter. And then, of course, you’ve got the whole Ex Machina thing going on as well.
This video was directed by Grant Singer, who has directed videos for pretty much everyone. Well, maybe not everyone by he has worked with Taylor Swift, which is just as good. He’s also done videos for Lorde, The Weeknd, Ariel Pink, Sleigh Bells, and Skrillex.
(Also, to all of our readers and to my fellow collaborators here at the Shattered Lens, rest assured that all of you still get me high.)
Enjoy!
I sure do miss sharing some of my favorite songs and music with y’all.
As part of my return to the site I’d like to share one of my current favorite songs (well, it’s an all-time favorite but have been listening to it a lot of late). It’s a song I first heard as a wee lad of no more than probably 7 or 8. Time becomes quite hazy in my advancing years.
My dad was a huge Creedence Clearwater Revival fan and he would constantly play their albums, especially his favorite tracks, during road trips and just driving around the area. One day it would be CCR the next another band he liked.
“Penthouse Pauper” came back to my radar after it was featured prominently in last year’s Marvels Netflix series The Punisher. The moment the song began to play in the background it brought back good memories and it has since returned to my constant playing and listening of this classic blues-rock song.
Penthouse Pauper
Through the Shattered Lens 