Sorry, everyone. I’m pretty ill right now so, instead of going into a lot of detail, I’m just going to share this video of Saint Motel’s My Type and hope that you enjoy!
(This is one of two videos for My Type. Check out the other one by clicking here!)
Fireworks seem like a good way to welcome in the month of May.
This video was filmed, over the course of two nights, near the Sepulveda Dam in Los Angeles and apparently, all of the explosions and the fireworks convinced local residents that they were under terrorist attack. Lead singer Chris Cornell was in rehab at the time of the shooting and commuted directly from the facility to the set and then back again.
Enjoy and let’s make the best of May!
Hi, everyone! Welcome to the merry old month of May!
So, today is May Day, which is apparently some sort of communist new year. (Actually, technically, the holiday is International Workers Day or something like that but May Day sounds prettier and little bit less grimy.) Anyway, with that in mind, it only seems appropriate (to me, at least) that today’s music video of the day should be about wanting money.
This song was originally recorded by Barrett Strong in 1959 and subsequently become heavily identified with the Beatles. There have been quite a few covers over the year but my favorite version is by The Flying Lizards, largely because this version achieves a perfect balance between sincerity and satire.
This video was recorded for a show called TopPop, which was apparently some sort of Danish music show. I have to admit that I have a weakness for bands that were willing to be openly eccentric. That’s something that the world is missing today. Everyone’s so tediously earnest.
Anyway, enjoy!
Hi, everyone!
I don’t have much to say about this video. That’s actually one of the reasons why I picked it. My allergies and my asthma are teaming up to try to take me out before April ends so I figured this would be a good day to pick a video that can pretty much speak for itself.
I’ve liked this song ever since I first watched Boogie Nights. Apparently, in 2006, it was voted the “greatest guilty pleasure” of all time by the British music magazine, Q. I just find all the random shouts of “I’m taking a dive” to be fascinating.
Enjoy!
A video featuring a human-sized toy bear beating up a hunter?
The question isn’t why wouldn’t I share this video. The question is why haven’t I shared this video yet?
The song, of course, is a look at human behavior through the eyes of an animal. Bjork had the following to say about the idea behind the video:
“Human Behaviour is an animal’s point of view on humans. And the animals are definitely supposed to win in the end. So why, one might ask, is the conquering bear presented as a man-made toy? I don’t know. I guess I just didn’t think it would be fair to force an animal to act in a video. I mean, that would be an extension of what I’m against.”
This was the first video on which Michel Gondry and Bjork collaborated. (Gondry, of course, would later direct Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.) Gondry had the following to say about the video:
“When we did our first video, for “Human Behaviour”, I was thinking: “Great, we’re going to Iceland and we’re going to shoot a lot of great landscape.” And she [Björk] said no – she had a similar idea as my friend Etienne in Oui Oui, she wanted to use animals to reflect human nature. And it was great, because as soon as she started to throw some ideas, they started to bounce in my mind and imagination and I immediately came back with other ideas, and we did a video that was very collaborative. “
So, there you have it. The animals always win in the end.
Enjoy!
So, I’ve been having a bit of a Mark Romanek film festival tonight!
Val and I have looked at several Romanek-directed music videos here on the Shattered Lens. Here’s just a few of them: Perfect Drug, Closer, Criminal, Hella Good. Shake It Off. Hurt. (Also I should mention that I’m a huge fan of Romanek’s adaptation of Never Let Me Go.)
For this video, Romanek decided to create the impression that the band was flying by suspending them in the air. In the audio commentary for this video (which can be found on The Work of Director Mark Romanek), Mark Oliver Everett says that he was scared for his life at certain points during the filming. He also complained that the bass player, Tommy Walter, wasn’t moving realistically for someone floating in the air.
That may be true but Tommy’s the best-looking guy in the group so who cares? Or, I should say, he was the best-looking guy in the group. Tommy left Eels a year after this video came out. The drummer, Butch Norton, left several years later. Apparently, Mark Oliver Everett is incredibly talented and also extremely difficult to work with.
Anyway, it’s a good video!
Enjoy!
How does it feel….
Needless to say, this song was not originally recorded by The Rolling Stones. Despite what the title has led some people to assume, the song actually has nothing to do with the Rolling Stones. Instead, the song was written by Bob Dylan. It’s long been debated just who exactly Dylan was addressing in the lyrics. Some people think that Dylan was writing about Edie Sedgwick. Grace Zabriskie, who is probably best known for playing Sarah Palmer on Twin Peaks, has long claimed that she was the one who inspired the song. It would appear that only Bob Dylan knows for sure and it’s reasonable to assume that he’ll never tell.
Regardless, I really like this song. A part of it is because I relate to the lyrics. I almost feel like they could have been written about me at a certain time in my life. The other reason I love the song is because the taunting tone of the lyrics makes them perfect whenever you’re looking for something to say to someone who you dislike. For example, someone once unfollowed me on twitter and I responded by tweeting the lyrics of this song at her until she finally deleted her account. That was fun.
Anyway, it seemed somewhat inevitable that this song would be covered by The Rolling Stones. This video, which was directed by the prolific Michel Gondry, follows a young woman as she discovers how it feels to be a complete unknown. The woman in the video is played by future Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette.
Enjoy!
This song, of course, has been around even longer than Bob Dylan. It was originally published in 1941. Frank Sinatra’s first ever solo recording was a performance of this song and he would later record two more versions of it, in 1947 and 1957.
The Bob Dylan version appeared on Dylan’s 36th studio album, Shadows in the Night. (Shadows in the Night consists of covers of songs that Sinatra originally made famous.) Dylan performed this song on the second-t0-last episode of Late Show with David Letterman. Even though my musical taste usually runs the gamut from EDM to More EDM, I’ve always liked Bob Dylan. David Letterman, on the other hand, I’m a bit less impressed with. (Is he ever going to shave off that stupid beard?)
This nicely melancholy video feels like a throw back to the gangster films of the 30s. Helping to create that retro atmosphere is the casting of Robert Davi, an actor who would have fit right in with Cagney, Bogart, and Edward G. Robinson. Interestingly enough, Davi is also known as a skilled interpreter of Sinatra.
(He also once wished me a happy birthday, which was a nice of him.)
Enjoy!
Today, we have a simple video for a pretty good song. Of course, to say this video is simple is hardly a complaint. The simplicity works wonderfully.
Check out the previous Jake Bugg video that I shared on this site by clicking here.
Enjoy!
This video has kind of a nice Dr. Strangelove feel to it, which I like. That said, it was released 15 years ago so hopefully, time is not still running out. At the very least, let’s hope everyone was too busy dancing to launch any missiles.
It was directed by John Hillcoat, who would later direct films like Lawless, The Road, and The Proposition, along with an episode of Black Mirror.
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 