DYFL? > Weblog > Archives > Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

<< Previously | What's Next >>
VARIOUS | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Bring It On" (Music Video)
Tuesday, March 04, 2003

(This entry is filed under Various because, well, it's not purely about music, and it's not purely about film. Arbitrary? Not to my mind; if you've got a contrary argument, then feel free to launch it at me.)

As part of my astonishingly decadent capitalist Saturday of the past weekend, I picked up the single for "Bring It On," from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' excellent new album Nocturama. It had two new b-sides on it, which with Cave can be a very exciting prospect (two of his best songs, IMHO, are b-sides -- "Come Into My Sleep" and "Babe I Got You Bad," both from the (Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For? single, which isn't terribly hard to find at most mega-uber-turbostores). But I really bought it for the music video, which is also included. It is my favorite music video of 2003 and, possibly, my life (to adapt a phrasing stolen from John Peel). I'm sorry, it's just fucking hilarious.

I've told the story of the video before. Its development meeting went exactly like this:

NICK CAVE: What kind of video gets on MTV these days?

JOHN HILLCOAT (DIRECTOR): Generally, it's got black girls shaking their asses in it.

NICK CAVE: OK, let's make one of those then.

And they did. And they did it ever so well. The skankiness of the various dancing ho's is cranked up to absolutely ludicrous levels. Each and every one is covered in baby oil. They can't keep their hands off their breasts. And watch out for the simulated ass-to-ass, too. Meanwhile, the Bad Seeds play on, unflappable, in jet-black suits.

Simply describing the video doesn't do much good, because you've really got to see it. The editing is flawless; it's cut together in such a way as to show both how ridiculous, and how strangely beautiful, what's happening on screen can be. There's a slow-motion poetry in the way the asses shake and bosoms jiggle while the musicians play on that is utterly captivating to watch. I laugh my ass off every time I see it, but it's a gasping, joyous kind of laughter, a "How can they do this so WELL?" astonishment that has me almost shaking by the time the video is over. I know that may seem stupid, but I'm just chronicling a feeling here. This video excites me more than any video I've seen in years. And not in the way you'd think, you dirty, dirty monkeys.

You can watch a clip -- sadly, too short, though it certainly does set the tone -- at Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds' official website (scroll down, it's just below the tracklisting and sound samples for Nocturama). After that, I urge you to buy the single and watch the video in high quality, or at the very least rush to the illegal media downloading software of your choice and partake from there. If you can do neither, then you're missing out in a big way, and I pity you.

Here's a selection of images that put across the flavor of things pretty well.

It starts off just like any Nick Cave video; solemn lighting, a tight band performance, Cave crooning off-key into the mic with bad lip-synching...

...and hey, wait a second, what's with all these flashing lights? And are those...

...HOOCHIES?!? Begorrah! (Go Shorty, it's your birthday, we're gonna party like it's your birthday...)

"And I'll scatter them into the sea:" Classy. The first time they cut to the outrageous Hawaii Five-O crashing-ocean footage, it's hilariously ridiculous; by the time they repeat the gag in the song's stunning climax, it's utterly sublime. Believe me.

And see, this is what the Bad Seeds are losing: the unflappable, laughably pretentious but yet strangely captifying, Blixa Bargeld, being as German art-wankish as he possibly can while a dazzling bevy of skanks skeeze around him. And the decision to show him letting out the song's climactic howl is brilliant, I must say...

This whole piece really is just one long, nonsensical exhortation and command. Go see this video. If you don't like it, not even a little bit, then you've lost four and a half minutes of your life and I'll send you a cookie. But I was just so taken by how well the director, and the band, chose a cheap gimmicky concept and made something utterly beautiful out of it, that I had to let you know how excited I was. And this is my website, so that's what I'll do with it. Right!

03.04.2003 | 04:37 PM | TrackBack (0)

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Blixa's left the Bad Seeds. Sniff.

Posted by: Caroline at March 5, 2003 04:46 PM

............

It's a fucking humanitarian tragedy and no mistake... I do wonder who they'll draft in to replace him, though. Hopefully someone surprising and interesting.

Posted by: Chris at March 5, 2003 05:28 PM

............

The Edge .-)

Posted by: Caroline at March 6, 2003 02:09 PM

............

Nah, Eric Clapton, surely?

P.S. Still listening to Bring It On at least once a day - it's that addictive.

Posted by: Vaughan at March 8, 2003 05:34 PM

............

Post a new comment:

<< Previously | What's Next >>