Runaway Train
Soul Asylum – Runaway Train
Few people pay attention to public service announcements, but back in 1992, lots of people watched music videos on MTV. For Soul Asylum’s “Runaway Train,” director Tony Kaye made a video featuring missing children, hoping to find them… and it worked!
The video located so many runaways that they made six different versions (US, UK, Australia, and Germany). After the video, in an ending also not regularly shown, Pirner says in front of the camera, “If you’ve seen one of these kids, or you are one of them, please call this number,” with the following screen showing a number one could contact.
The problem was, when missing children turn up, the results aren’t always pretty. Some were found dead. Several others were forced to return home to horrible situations.
In 2006, Soul Asylum guitarist Dan Murphy reflected on the consequences: “There’s a reason that young kids run away, mostly because of abuse,“ he told the Pasadena Weekly. “There were some happy results from, but you have to resolve the situation that caused an 11- or 13-year-old to think the harsh world is better than their home.”
Resolved cases
According to Kaye, 26 missing children were found after being featured in the video. In 2006, guitarist Dan Murphy stated in an interview with Pasadena Weekly that some of the cases featured in the video had ended in tragedy: “Some weren’t the best scenarios.
I met a fireman on the East Coast whose daughter was in the end of the video, and he’d been in a bitter custody battle with his wife over her”, Murphy said. “It turned out the girl hadn’t run away, but was killed and buried in her backyard by her mother. Then on tour, another girl told us laughingly ‘You ruined my life’ because she saw herself on the video at her boyfriend’s house and it led her being forced back into a bad home situation.”
The UK version of the video featured Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol, who each went missing in 1991. Their remains were found in 2007 at a house in Margate.
The version shown in Australia showed a number of young backpacking tourists whose families were looking for them. Many of those shown in the Australian version were confirmed victims of serial killer Ivan Milat, who was arrested in 1994 not long after the Australian film clip was released
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Kurt Cobain cam up with the name of the song from his apartment wall… Supposedly, the name came from graffiti Kathleen Hanna once wrote on the wall of lead singer Kurt Cobain’s hotel room.
She wrote “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit” Kurt Cobain said that “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was an attempt to write a song in the style of the Pixies, a band he greatly admired
Smells Like Teen Spirit was a single from Nevermind, the 1991 album that catapulted Nirvana to fame. The music video directed by Samuel Bayer. The video is based on the concept of a school concert which ends in anarchy and riot, inspired by Jonathan Kaplan’s 1979 film Over the Edge and the Ramones’ film Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.
Lyrics
Load up on guns, bring your friends
It’s fun to lose and to pretend
She’s over-bored and self-assured
Oh no, I know a dirty word
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it’s less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido
Yeah, hey
I’m worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it’s less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now,…
This is America
Donald Glover released this song under his musical alter-ego ‘Childish Gambino’. As soon as it was released it launched a storm of conversation on social media and quickly became one of the most trending and viewed music videos on YouTube
This is America is cryptic and loaded with shocking imagery and metaphors. The video is directed by Hiro Murai and choreographed by Sherrie Silver, the music video touches on gun violence and how we have historically used entertainment to distract us from pervasive cultural and political problems.
A powerful song, a rythm that sticks with you and a video that you will not forget ‘This is America’ is a true musical masterpiece.
Gorillaz
Awesome Art, Awesome Music
Parttime Ninja 