What About Us | Through the Shattered Lens

Today’s music video of the day comes to use from Austin’s own Gary Clark, Jr.

The video for What About Us? takes place in and around a trailer park and it really does capture the feel of the place. Now, before anyone asks, I’ve never lived in a trailer park but I’ve visited more than a few. Trailer parks are often both ominous and hopeful at the same time. While you definitely see some people who have fallen on hard times, you also see a lot of acts of small kindness. There’s a community spirit to a good trailer park. When you’re on the outskirts of “acceptable” society, it’s always good to have people who you can depend upon.

This video was directed by Savannah Leaf, who also did the video for Clark’s This Land. The gorgeous black-and-white cinematography is credited to Isaac Bauman. Bauman has served as director of photography on several music videos. He’s got 66 credits listed at the Imvdb, including Avicii’s Broken Arrow.

(We miss you, Avicii!)

Enjoy!

(Originally, I was going to list my picks for the best in SyFy today. However, I need one more day to work on that so look for that tomorrow! For now, here are my favorite songs of 2017!)

Every January, I list my favorite songs of the previous year and, every January, I include the same disclaimer. My favorite songs are not necessarily the favorite songs of any of the other writers here at the Shattered Lens. We are a large and diverse group of people and, as such, we all have our own individual tastes.

If you ever visited the TSL Bunker, you would be shocked by the different music coming out of each office. You would hear everything from opera to death metal to the best of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. And then, of course, you would reach my office and you would discover that my taste in music pretty much runs the gamut from EDM to More EDM.

Now, usually, I do try to listen to a variety of music. You can go to my Song of the Day site — Lisa Marie’s Song of the Day — and see that I do occasionally listen to other types of music. But, I have to be honest. 2017 was not a year that inspired me to really leave me comfort zone. If anything, music provided me with some much needed consistency in an otherwise chaotic year. 2017 was a year that made me want to dance until it was all over and, for the most part, my favorite songs of the year reflect that fact.

Before I list my songs, I should make something else very clear. These are my favorite songs of 2017. I’m not saying that they’re necessarily the best songs of 2017. I’ll leave that debate for others. Instead, there are the songs that I found myself listening to over and over again. These are the songs made me dance. These are the songs that made me sing. A few of these songs relaxed me when I needed to be relaxed. These are songs that I liked.