Strange Days Vid

[calgarydave]

Hey I did a search but didnt come up w/ anything so hopefully this hasn't be asked too many times before ;)

 

But I was watching the Strange Days Video (its by far my fav) and there's a couple things I dont get.

First off whats the deal with the chick who gets hauled down by the 2 security guards. What is she a shoplifter or something? and whats the point of having MG kick the lipstick into the sewer?

 

Also what do you think MG is saying to the homeless person before s/he (sorry cant tell if he or her applies) saves the other chick. It seems odd cause they make a deal of showing the MG is dissappointed when s/he gets up. So what was he telling them not to do it?

[middle class gangster]

at the end he was telling the girl where to look. i don't know about the rest of the stuff.

look at the bottom of the Q/A page here

[sirbeavertease]

I figure kicking the lipstick into the sewer disposes of evidence they'd use against her. No booty, no crime.

[mrs jesus]

omg you shoulda labeled this "spoilerz" cuz ive never seen this video befurr, lolz!!11

 

;)

[Aidan]

Hey I did a search but didnt come up w/ anything so hopefully this hasn't be asked too many times before ;)

 

But I was watching the Strange Days Video (its by far my fav) and there's a couple things I dont get.

First off whats the deal with the chick who gets hauled down by the 2 security guards. What is she a shoplifter or something? and whats the point of having MG kick the lipstick into the sewer?

 

Also what do you think MG is saying to the homeless person before s/he (sorry cant tell if he or her applies) saves the other chick. It seems odd cause they make a deal of showing the MG is dissappointed when s/he gets up. So what was he telling them not to do it?

Shoplifter: Kicking the lipstick away to dispose of evidence so the woman wont be arrested.

 

Homeless Chick: Chances are he's telling her whats going to happen and is giving her a choice to save the woman who ignored her or not.If he's unhappy it's probably because a life has been taken.

 

She then dies and goes to a better place with Matt who is perhaps some sort of Angel of Death?

 

 

-Aidan

[evan]

when matt is whispering in the girls ear he is directing her.

 

 

someone transcribed it as saying "look at the woman. look at the van. woman. van, go save her." or something along those lines.

[calgarydave]

I had thought about the lipstick being what she lifted, however it seems a little excessive to have 2 burly guys tackle a woman for just 1 lipstick.

Also every place I've worked has had limits to what teh security could and could not do, and tackling a shoplifter would definatlly fall under the could not.

 

lol sorry 'bout the spoilers I assumed everyone would've seen this by now ;)

 

As far as whats he's saying to the girl at the end, I liked what was under the QA, but there must've been some other meaning to it otherwise why would they have put him in that part?

 

I had kinda thought that maybe he was telling her that she didnt need to/shouldnt save the person. B/C her actions (not helping out) have shown what type of person she is, and doesn't deserve to be saved by someone the AOD sees as inherantly good. But the only support to the homeless girl being potrayed as inherantly good is when she saves the other girl so I dunno.

[leafsfan17]

Strange Days is one of the most intriguing videos by Matthew Good Band. I have to agree its one of the best videos by far that i've ever seen. For one Matt is trying to send a message to society in general that people need to start doing good deeds more often. The girl on the street essentially saved the life of the woman who was talking to her friend. Anyways Awesome video

[evan]

I had thought about the lipstick being what she lifted, however it seems a little excessive to have 2 burly guys tackle a woman for just 1 lipstick.

Also every place I've worked has had limits to what teh security could and could not do, and tackling a shoplifter would definatlly fall under the could not.

 

lol sorry 'bout the spoilers I assumed everyone would've seen this by now ;)

 

As far as whats he's saying to the girl at the end, I liked what was under the QA, but there must've been some other meaning to it otherwise why would they have put him in that part?

 

I had kinda thought that maybe he was telling her that she didnt need to/shouldnt save the person. B/C her actions (not helping out) have shown what type of person she is, and doesn't deserve to be saved by someone the AOD sees as inherantly good. But the only support to the homeless girl being potrayed as inherantly good is when she saves the other girl so I dunno.

obviously that scene had meaning... but just like the apparitions video, people read the lip movement and translated it.

[Truffle Pigs]

That Strange Days video is amazing....the whole drama and concept of the video is quite good(giving up your life to save someone else),and u gotta like the bit about Matt playing the angel of death ;) ....it has a quality to it that only Matthew Good music videos possess.......and what was he telling the street girl may u ask??Probably how that woman was going to die unless she saved her,and how she has a family with kids and blah blah blah

[THE MAN]

Im pretty sure hes just telling her what to do in the scene. something like "allright lets get this take right".

 

Great video though. I always liked Rich running over the homeless chick.

Edited January 26, 2005 by THE MAN

[zenkey]

Yeah, he is just telling her what to do in the scene... but you're not meant to be able to know what he's saying. It's definitely more along the lines of him informing the girl about what is about to happen or asking her to sacrifice herself. I'm pretty sure no one actually knows what is 'meant' to be said, so whatever meaning you come up with is right.

[tripoliQ]

i'd always assumed he was kicking the lipstick down the sewer as a sort of glimpse of the woman's future... she'll be going to jail and presumably not be able to wear makeup or fancy clothes or partake in any of the niceties she was likely to have taken advantage of before her crime.

 

i might just be interpreting this wrong, though. it just never seemed to make sense for him to save the criminal woman, yet condemn the homeless girl to death. unless that was the point.

 

...

[Dookas27018]

The only person that can see matt is the homeless girl, so when the shoplifter is dragged down she can't see matt, but she can see the lipstick move is one direction, stop on a dime, then go flying in the other direction....which is supposed to lead her to wonder what was driving the lipstick

[Jay]

Ah, the Strange Days vid...the one that got me hooked on MGB. Definitely one of my all-time favorite vids.

[Guest girl]

Remember that cute kid on the Strange Days video? I was flipping through the television channels this morning, and I saw this girl on the CBC show Heartland. I thought she looked familiar. She must be that same cute kid all grown up. Her name is Jessica Amlee. How time flies! It feels like only yesterday that I saw Strange Days for the first time on MuchMoreMusic in 2000. I feel old now.

 

 

 

[Guest girl]

Maybe the idea is the homeless girl has a shitty life on earth but by saving the career woman she can die and have a better life in heaven, and get to hang out with a clean-shaven, suit-wearing angel! If you believe in that kind of thing.

 

I like that idea. That video is timeless. I will never get tired of it. It is one of the best music videos I have ever seen. The last part always gets me, when that lady is crying. It is so sad.

[daniel_v]

Watching that again really makes me miss the days of music videos from Matt. I understand they're not economically feasible these days, but damn...there were some great vids that Matt, Bill, and the band helped create. 

 

The plot of SD in this one was, as others have commented, really intriguing. I love the look Matt gives when the girl runs off to save the business woman. Different ways to interpret it of course, but it seemed like one of regret and lethargic sadness- like he knew it needed to happen but that such knowledge didn't make it any easier to bare or know it was going to happen.