Videos: New from the Killers, MGMT, the Streets
Friday, October 17, 2008 | 8:44 am
The Killers latest, "Day & Age," is scheduled for release on Nov. 11 - Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day - so brace yourself for catchy songs and bad lyrics as you celebrate the troops.
Given the date of the release, I figured I'd turn to the dearly departed veteran Kurt Vonnegut and his 1973 book "Breakfast of Champions" for some words of wisdom (I don't have my copy at work, so if some wording is wrong here, blame Wikiquote):
"I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
"It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.
"Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not.
"So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things.
"What else is sacred? Oh, 'Romeo and Juliet,' for instance.
"And all music is."
The Killers - "Human" - Video
In case you can't tell because of the resolution on this video, those are feathers on singer Brandon Flowers' shoulders. And yes, that's a Bengal tiger chilling out. And a mountain lion running through the hills. I mean, you gotta respect -- or is it gape in amusement? -- at a band that works all that into a video, AND includes the oh-so-silly line, "Are we human, or are we dancers?" in its song. Still, hard to deny this is catchy stuff.
The Streets - "Everything is Borrowed" - Video
Mike Skinner, aka the Streets, sings about how he "came into this world with nothing, and I'll leave with nothing but love." He pairs that line with images of a young family being foreclosed on. It's an affecting, timely clip. Well done.
MGMT - The Youth - Video
I don't know if this is exactly a good video, but it's at least a little interesting. A bunch of kids rotate on a giant record, singing along to the Bowie-esque track "The Youth." There's definitely a "Little Miss Sunshine" vibe to the weirdly diverting clip.
Given the date of the release, I figured I'd turn to the dearly departed veteran Kurt Vonnegut and his 1973 book "Breakfast of Champions" for some words of wisdom (I don't have my copy at work, so if some wording is wrong here, blame Wikiquote):
"I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
"It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.
"Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not.
"So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things.
"What else is sacred? Oh, 'Romeo and Juliet,' for instance.
"And all music is."
The Killers - "Human" - Video
In case you can't tell because of the resolution on this video, those are feathers on singer Brandon Flowers' shoulders. And yes, that's a Bengal tiger chilling out. And a mountain lion running through the hills. I mean, you gotta respect -- or is it gape in amusement? -- at a band that works all that into a video, AND includes the oh-so-silly line, "Are we human, or are we dancers?" in its song. Still, hard to deny this is catchy stuff.
The Streets - "Everything is Borrowed" - Video
Mike Skinner, aka the Streets, sings about how he "came into this world with nothing, and I'll leave with nothing but love." He pairs that line with images of a young family being foreclosed on. It's an affecting, timely clip. Well done.
MGMT - The Youth - Video
I don't know if this is exactly a good video, but it's at least a little interesting. A bunch of kids rotate on a giant record, singing along to the Bowie-esque track "The Youth." There's definitely a "Little Miss Sunshine" vibe to the weirdly diverting clip.
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