By NICK McCOY
Often, an excellent music video proves to be just as vital to a song’s success as the song itself. Sure, there are plenty of bands who have released many successful and beloved songs without any music videos to accompany them. The majority of the songs on Pearl Jam’s albums “Vs.” and “Vitalogy” had no videos to accompany them. Despite this, a music video can go a long way to increasing a song’s appeal, as well as put a new spin on the song.
For a time, a music video was absolutely crucial to a band’s career. During the days when MTV was actually the music video powerhouse of the 1980s, not having a video to go with your brand-new single would be a career death sentence.
In the years since, while not as important, a music video still proves an essential part of getting a band more recognition. The cool thing about music videos is they can go beyond just promoting a song or band. They can tell their own stories and essentially act as mini-movies, potentially bolstering an already impressive and well-written song.
A perfect example of this is today’s Song Spotlight: “Let’s Go” by indie band Stuck in the Sound.
Formed in 2002 in Paris, France, Stuck in the Sound consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist José Reis Fontão, lead guitarist Emmanuel Barichasse, bassist Arno Bordas and drummer François Ernie. The band’s name is derived from the fact the bandmates would play music while locked in a cellar and, therefore, were quite literally stuck in the sound. Featuring Indie rock dominated by clean and fuzzy guitars, elements of electronica and Fontão’s unique vocals, the band has released six studio albums — the most recent being released in 2019. The band’s most well-known songs are “Toy Boy,” mainly due to its inclusion on 2008’s “Guitar Hero: World Tour,” and this article’s subject, the song “Let’s Go.”
“Let’s Go” comes from the band’s 2012 effort, “Pursuit.” Featuring a more polished and poppy sound than their previous efforts, “Pursuit” is already a solid Indie rock album. “Let’s Go” is easily one of the best songs on the album, featuring great guitar work, passionate vocals from Fontão and excellent songwriting.
The song begins with two distinct guitar parts, some clean chord strumming from Fontão and a few note melodies from Barichasse. Soon, the song transitions to a hard-hitting, fuzz-laden riff, as both Bordas and Ernie join in. The song again slows down for the verse, where Bordas’ bass and Fontão’s distinctive, high-pitched vocals take center stage. Before long, the song picks up pace again for its great chorus, complete with the powerful chant of “Let’s go.” Following the second verse and chorus, Barichasse enters with a simple but powerful solo, which begins the song’s final act. Following the song’s bridge, where all members join in for the climax, Fontão closes the song with a repeat of his riff from the beginning, before the song ends on a sustained, beautiful note.
“Let’s Go” is already a great song on its own merits and is more than enough reason to listen to the band’s work. However, it was made even better by the song’s excellent animated music video. The video not only greatly added to the song’s appeal, but also gave it a whole new meaning.
The music video for “Let’s Go” was actually one of the first videos I ever remember watching on YouTube, and it quickly caught my eye with its beautiful, vibrant animation and bittersweet story. The video follows the story of a man from China, who from his childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut. This passion completely overtakes his life, to the point he ignores spending time with others and developing meaningful relationships, even rudely rejecting the affection of a coworker, to realize his dream.
Eventually, he finally lands on the moon, taking a picture to commemorate the moment — only for Earth to suddenly explode behind him. Left stranded on the moon, the man has a complete emotional breakdown before receiving what he believes to be a woman from a nearby space station. Using his rover as well as debris from the destroyed earth, he finally makes it to the station. However, he discovers the “woman” is actually a man with long blonde hair. Left in anguish, he strikes the man before falling to the floor in tears. The video ends on a bittersweet note. The protagonist wipes away his tears and proceeds to play video games with the blonde man, their fate left unknown.
The amazing video is basically a version of the saying, “Life’s a journey, not a destination.” Instead of focusing on one goal or dream in your life, enjoy the company of those around you and live life to the fullest. The man in the video completely ignores the simple things in life, such as hanging out with friends and romance, for the sake of living his dream. By the time his dream came, it was too late.
The video teaches an important lesson; Not everything lasts forever, and you should live your life the best you can as anything could happen to put a stop to it. All in all, it is a truly spectacular music video that amplifies an already amazing Indie rock from, in my opinion, a very underrated band.
Nick McCoy is a junior at Fort Hays State University and an active member of Tiger Media Network. He is an avid movie-watcher and enjoys hosting his radio show on KFHS, The Understanding of Nick.
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