Entertainment

The Black Keys' Music Video Looks Familiar

by Caroline Pate

It's a fantastic video: a sweaty televangelist leads a crowd of manically devoted followers, who devolve into shaking and speaking tongues. Wait, what video are we talking about again? Oh yes, that's right, it's the new video for The Black Keys song "Fever", off their upcoming album Turn Blue, to be released May 13. But it could just as easily be the video for Disclosure's "When a Fire Starts to Burn," off of last year's Settle.

Of course, it's not a frame-for-frame ripoff — far from it, in fact. The Black Keys' video takes advantage of a preexisting footage and a VHS aesthetic, not to mention Patrick Carney's turn as the boozy cohort to Dan Auerbach's devoted preacher. But it's a clear repetition of a very specific theme: television evangelism.

It's obvious why it would be appealing: the excess, the low-rent aesthetic, the countless religious metaphors to be made. And the image of a rabidly devout preacher sweating through his polyester suit for the cameras while devotees become "touched" by the spirit is certainly compelling. But the repetition of a music video theme in such quick succession seems rather odd, and begs the question: did one inspire the other, or is this the beginning of yet another music video trend or trope? It seems the world of music videos is more and more a borrowing culture. Beyonce aped much of the work of the moves and style of choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker for her "Countdown" video, and Pharrell copied many of the moves and scenes from the Girl Talk film Girl Walk // All Day for his "Happy" video.

The similarities in videos is nonetheless largely reflective of our modern artistic culture of borrowing — our society has become so media saturated that artists often borrow ideas from others, whether consciously or not. But regardless, each of the videos is enjoyable on their own (although personally, I prefer the Disclosure take on the subject, where everything eventually devolves into madness). But of course, you can always watch the videos and determine for yourself: