According to Merrill Garbus, the singer behind tUnE-yArDs, “Real Thing” was surprisingly the one song on her latest album Nikki Nack she didn’t want made into a video, saying,
“It has too many images of its own in the lyrics, and could mean so many different things for different listeners,” she wrote. “I love leaving room for audiences to paint their own mental pictures. What changed my mind is wanting so much for this particular song to be heard by more people.”
Warning: don’t watch this amazingly surreal and cartoonish, freaky music video if you’re afraid of mannequin-people. Only watch it if you love good music.
Luckily, Garbus had Tom Jobbins directing the video full of his ideas for quirky madness and pastel body parts to blur the line between the fake things and the real things. The end creation is a wild humanoid factory dance party, but it doesn’t take away from Garbus’ complex lyrics and storytelling in the song.
You can imagine tUnE-yArDs is just as energetic and brilliant when she performs life. So check her out on tour with Cibo Matto this winter.
Tour Dates:
December 4 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
December 5 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
December 6 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
December 7 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
December 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern
December 11 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
December 12 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
December 13 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
Images via Rolling Stone and Roberawards.
