Here’s Chicago’s Joan of Arc with a Dangerous Minds exclusive premiere of their new music video for “Never Wintersbone You” from their latest—and first album in five years—He’s Got The Whole This Land Is Your Land In His Hands out now on Joyful Noise Recordings. Directed by band members Melina Ausikaitis and Todd Mattei, and featuring a puppet and set design by Melina, “Never Wintersbone You” plays off of the infamous myth surrounding Phil Collin’s 1981 hit song, “In the Air Tonight,” from his debut solo album Face Value. The new video is modeled after that older music video, and stars a mullet-sporting Phil Collins stand-in doing some soul searching in empty rooms and endless hallways.
I asked the band’s publicist about the “In the Air Tonight” myth and he said:
The myth goes something like: a young Phil Collins and his friend went swimming and the friend was having trouble staying above water. The life guard on the shore froze and did nothing to help. Phil’s friend drowned. Later, Phil hired a private detective to find the lifeguard, sent him a free ticket to his concert, and premiered “In the Air Tonight” with a spotlight on the man the whole time.
Totally untrue but an awesome story.
Snopes.com has a lot of information on the subject:
Of all pop songs for which elaborate, apocryphal backstories have been created to explicate the lyrics, Phil Collins’ 1981 hit, “In the Air Tonight” (from his Face Value album), has perhaps the most varied and fantastic set of legends associated with it. Encompassing adultery, rape, murder, drowning, and the dramatic exposure of a reprehensible wrongdoer (resulting in an arrest or suicide), the narratives all include despicable acts either witnessed by Phil Collins or visited upon him and his family (or friends), inspiring the musician to exact a form of revenge by encapsulating the experience in the lyrics of a song.
Amazing that such interesting stories can revolve around such a boring subject!
The Joan of Arc video premieres today, right here, and is really great. The concept is hysterically funny, while musically being very dark—perfect!