Once again, the Decemberists have rolled out a new video in support of The King Is Dead. This time it's for "Calamity Song" but get this: the clip is inspired by Infinite Jest, the modern literary masterpiece by late author David Foster Wallace.
Speaking to NPR, the band's Colin Meloy had this to say about the song and its Michael Schur-directed video (Schur is one of the co-creators of Parks and Recreation):
I wrote "Calamity Song" shortly after I'd finished reading David Foster Wallace's epic Infinite Jest. The book didn't so much inspire the song itself, but Wallace's irreverent and brilliant humour definitely wound its way into the thing. And I had this funny idea that a good video for the song would be a re-creation of the Enfield Tennis Academy's round of Eschaton -- basically, a global thermonuclear crisis re-created on a tennis court -- that's played about a third of the way into the book. Thankfully, after having a good many people balk at the idea, I found a kindred spirit in Michael Schur, a man with an even greater enthusiasm for Wallace's work than my own. With much adoration and respect to this seminal, genius book, this is what we've come up with. I can only hope DFW would be proud.
You can watch the video here on NPR.
Speaking to NPR, the band's Colin Meloy had this to say about the song and its Michael Schur-directed video (Schur is one of the co-creators of Parks and Recreation):
I wrote "Calamity Song" shortly after I'd finished reading David Foster Wallace's epic Infinite Jest. The book didn't so much inspire the song itself, but Wallace's irreverent and brilliant humour definitely wound its way into the thing. And I had this funny idea that a good video for the song would be a re-creation of the Enfield Tennis Academy's round of Eschaton -- basically, a global thermonuclear crisis re-created on a tennis court -- that's played about a third of the way into the book. Thankfully, after having a good many people balk at the idea, I found a kindred spirit in Michael Schur, a man with an even greater enthusiasm for Wallace's work than my own. With much adoration and respect to this seminal, genius book, this is what we've come up with. I can only hope DFW would be proud.
You can watch the video here on NPR.
