A man drives through the desert in a Thunderbird. A hawk perches in a church. An unknown couple dance the tango. The beach awaits. Yes, this is the video for Mr. Mister’s Broken Wings.
The video was directed by Oley Sassone, who later directed episodes of Hercules and Xena.. According to Sassone, “The subtext of the story and what I wanted the audience to feel was our hero’s own backstory in his mind. The tango dancers, juxtaposed with the images of him getting lost while driving, tossing a map and instead following the hawk overhead was, symbolically, his own soul, his own voice deep inside telling him to carry on – to lead him to a new path, a new beginning.” Personally, I have always thought this song was about someone struggling to recover from a bad breakup.
Broken Wings is a song that epitomizes the mid-1980s so it’s not surprising that it’s also included on the Vice City: Grand Theft Auto soundtrack. Getting chased the a police helicopter while listening to Mr. Mister is a surreal experience.
There was one band during the 80’s that everyone seemed to dismiss, yet their album were selling out. It was almost as if no one wanted to admit that they enjoyed listening to this band. The band I’m talking about is Mr. Mister. Yes, even the name sounds like something that we might consider today as being too hipsterish. A name made to sound to be oh so clever.
Yet, Mr. Mister had two hit albums that many bands of this era couldn’t admit to having. The 1980’s was an era of great music, but it was also one where way too many were also quite disposable. People nowadays complain about how music has no soul and that it was all corporate driven. Well, this era has nothing on the Reagan-era of the music industry.
Mr. Mister would pump out two hit albums before breaking up in the late 80’s with most of the band members joining up with different Christian rock and music groups down the years.
One Mr. Mister song that was catchy and remained so would be their hit single “Kyrie”.
To a teenager of the time the song was memorable and easy to sing along to. It’s later on as teens became adults that we’ve come to realize that the song itself was a Christian liturgy prayer and the whole song was just a prayer backed by pop rock melodies. It’s no wonder that the band’s member would find their second wind in the music business as part of Christian rock groups.
Kyrie
Kýrie, eléison Kýrie, eléison Kýrie
The wind blows hard against this mountainside Across the sea into my soul It reaches into where I cannot hide Setting my feet upon the road
My heart is old, it holds my memories My body burns a gem-like flame Somewhere between the soul and soft machine Is where I find myself again
Kýrie, eléison Down the road that I must travel Kýrie, eléison Through the darkness of the night
Kýrie, eléison Where I’m going, will you follow? Kýrie, eléison On a highway in the light
When I was young, I thought of growing old Of what my life would mean to me Would I have followed down my chosen road Or only wished what I could be
Kýrie, eléison Down the road that I must travel Kýrie, eléison Through the darkness of the night
Kýrie, eléison Where I’m going, will you follow? Kýrie, eléison On a highway in the light
Through the Shattered Lens 