musings of a neurotic mind

something really caught my eye lately: the music video “somebody told me” by the highly-popular (at least in the UK and in france) group called “the killers”. when i saw the video for the first time i thought, wow, now that’s a way to churn out a song and i did not really liked it. but if you watch it several times (and trust me, that is easily the case because they play it quite often) you notice that at the drummer of the band looks like he needs to pee quite urgently at the beginning of the video. apart from that i was convinced that “the killers” are a british band but apparently they hail from Las Vegas and masterly imitate a british accent.
speaking of music: have you noticed the latest commercial for the iPod Shuffle? catchy tune, isn’t it? it’s called “jerk it out” by a combo named “Caesars” or sometimes “Caesar’s Palace”… not quite sure about that.

mylene farmer is finally back and the first single of the new album is called “fuck them all”. i was sceptical at first because the title of the song does not sound like mylene. maybe she has changed her style but my fears were unjustified: mylene is still mylene and the musicvideo is downright awesome. actually, it blew my mental socks off! they play it all the time on MCM and it contains so many elements of her unique universe. the symbols and metaphers are overwhelming and you have to watch it again and again to get “it”. it’s to “early” for a complete analysis so i decided to put up some screenshots…

Puisque l’on est seul dans le noir
Que notre avenir est sans espoir
Comme un poing dressé vers le ciel
Comme la dernière des rebelles
Je ne veux plus te pardonner

L’imagination crée le monde
Et la raison est sa prison
Je veux saisir les secondes
Comme si elles valaient des millions
(Patricia Kaas - Je ne veux plus te pardonner)

for some strange reason these paroles describe pretty well how i am feeling today. i don’t know why, i should be happy that i am alive, healthy, done with thesis writing for now… there is still too much pain, regret and even hate deep inside me… i want to get away from here, leave this all behind, start a new life at a new place. do things all over again, but do them right from the beginning…

No hesitation, no delay
You come on just like special K
Just like I swallowed half my stash
I never ever want to crash
No hesitation, no delay
You come on just like special K
Now you’re back with dope demand
I’m on sinking sand
Gravity
No escaping gravity
Gravity
No escaping… not for free
I fall down… hit the ground
Make a heavy sound
Every time you seem to come around
(Placebo - Special K)

well, this is hardly breaking news but U2 has released a single called “Vertigo” some time ago. i heard it several times the past few weeks and never thought like wow that song kicks ass. i think this song had to grow on me because yesterday i suddenly realized that it really rocks. (you can’t really tell that from the media and so-called critics who easily praise every new single that hits the market.) apart from that the music video struck me as different and thus interesting. i have to say that i haven’t been what you would call a “fan” of U2. i enjoy selected songs but i do not collect all their albums. yet. well, here are few screencaps from the video:

green day’s new album is out for a few weeks now but i’ve never seem to get hold of the video - until now. i have been a fan of green day since their 1994 album “Dookie”. the first single “American Idiot” has some contemporary relevance, especially now after the outcome of the US elections:

Don’t want to be an American Idiot
Don’t want a nation under the new media
Can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind fuck America

Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alienation
Where everything isn’t meant to be okay
Television dreams of tomorrow
We’re not the ones meant to follow
For that’s enough to argue

Maybe I’m the faggot America
I’m not a part of a redneck agenda
Now everybody do the propaganda
And sing along at the edge of paranoia
(Green Day - American Idiot)

here are two screencaptures from the musicvideo:

Vois comme la vie est éphémère
Comme les nuages
Juste un passage
Une goutte d’eau nécessaire
Au voyage
(Mylene Farmer - Vertige)

Weiter, weiter ins Verderben.
Wir müssen leben bis wir sterben.
(Rammstein - Dalai Lama)

i am not easily impressed, but that music video called “je te rends ton amour” by mylene farmer really knocked me off my (mental) socks. i stumbled across that particular music video rather randomly, as it is the case with many interesting things. it is considered to be a “scandal” and french authorities only allowed the music channels to broadcast a censored version of it. well, that caught my attention and i so i decided to get the uncensored version on DVD. it is — trust me — breathtaking and one has to watch it several times to actually “get it”. i am not necessarily a fan of french chanson, but here the music and the images of the video are a unique entity that simply draws your attention and makes you think about it. no doubt that one could do a psychoanalytical reading of the entire video (i am very tempted to do so sometime), but what strikes me in particular is the visual impact of it, the “force” of the images that is underscored by the music. the sad theme of it of lost love is hardly anything new, but the way it is visualized is revolutionary. no wonder it was hailed as a scandal and censored! i do not want to give out any details for now, because to truly understand it you have to see it. here are some screenshots of a few scenes that impress me particularly:

i finally managed to catch a glimpse of the Edguy musicvideo “King of Fools”. you have to know that i rarely watch regular tv, let alone MTV. when i turn on tv, they are usually playing stuff i do not like and not good metal like Edguy. so you have to find other ways to watch musicvideos. (mental note: the next time Edguy comes to Austria, i simply have to visit the concert.) however, i even managed to make some screencaps:

“Is it love tonight
When everyone’s dreaming
Of a better life
In this world
Divided by fear
We’ve gotta believe that
There’s a reason we’re here
Yeah, there’s a reason we’re here
Cause these are the days worth living
These are the years we’re given
And these are the moments
These are the times
Let’s make the best out of our lives”
(The Calling - Our Lives)