Friday Fun--A Live Video

Sorry for the delay on Friday Fun--an expected work trip brought me out of town.

I think everyone has a special place in their heart for the music that was popular during their "formative years"--let's say from 14 to 22.  For me, that means the music of 1993 to 2000.  There are worse eras to be linked with, I guess, but it does mean that I find myself in the position of defending some bands that probably can't be reasonably defended.  For me, one of those bands is Live.

Live had some great songs (at least, I think they are great) but they were burdened with the need to show that their music was not just 90s alt-rock, but was about Big Ideas and Spirituality and other weighty topics.  I liked that as a 20 year old, but now it just seems ridiculous.  Still, Live takes it to a level that makes it fun, because it is so over the top.

The Live at its most Live-y can be seen in this video.  The song is called Lakini's Juice off their third album Secret Samadhi.




This video raises far, far more questions than it answers.  To wit:

1.  What's the white stuff that keeps cropping up in the video?  I've always thought it was lard, but that doesn't really make any sense.  Watching this video again, I noticed for the first time that the creepy old guy at the ticket counter has his face smeared with the stuff at the end of the video.  This is disturbing, in light of the next two points.

2.  After many viewings, my operative theory about the meaning of this video is that it is an anti-pornography message.  The people in the room getting it on have numbered tags on their wrists, suggesting some sort of statement about the commodification of sexuality.  Notice that whenever they shoot the participants that are not getting it on, they don't look particularly happy to be there.  Plus you have the leering dude at the ticket counter, I suppose representing the porn sellers (?) inviting you in to watch.

3.  In light of this theory, it must be said.  The logical extension of my theory is that the white stuff would represent semen, or sex in a more general sense.  Thus, the unpleasant implications of the white stuff smeared on the ticket guy.

4.  It might be argued that the fact I have thought so much about the meaning of the video means the terrorists (in this case, Ed Kowalchuk et al.) have already won.  I have no real response to this critique.

5.  It should be noted that lyrics seem to have nothing to do with pornography.

6.  The guitar sound, though, is pretty great.

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