Mark Lanegan “The Gravedigger’s Song”
In an era where horror is too often associated with low-fi gore and cheap thrills, director Alistair Legrand’s skillfully executed new video for Mark Lanegan Band’s “The Gravedigger’s Song” reminds us that creepy can still be beautiful. Filled with eerie pans and sinister slow motion, it manages to bring us right into the somber passion that runs deep in every note.
“Inspired by the song, I wanted to create something dark and elegant that took place inside of a haunted house. That’s just what the song sounded like to me–a dream-like world of slow-motion, macabre imagery. I also loved the idea of a first-person’s perspective where you are finding unsettling things in the dark with a flashlight–you look even though you don’t want to. This probably comes from growing up on a wonderfully creepy farm. The sisters, roses, and terrified children getting their picture taken were images that I had always wanted to shoot, but didn’t have the right song for. The Gravedigger’s Song worked perfectly.” –Alistair
Indeed, the song’s grisly and brooding sound certainly shapes the visuals and grounds the overall vision of the piece. It’s the perfect soundtrack for a world where otherworldly apparitions run rampant and even adorable little girls might be ghosts. “The Gravedigger’s Song” is a darkly delightful treat. The setting, too, seems to have been made for this project. Built on a secluded hillside near Salinas, CA in 1872, that house has essentially remained untouched since the retreat of its last residents. Still clad in taxidermied heads and dusty Victorian photographs, it’s just the kind of place you’d expect ghosts to play out the lives they were prematurely torn away from. When combined with Alistair’s dramatic visual storytelling, it’s enough to bring us into that timeless dimension where trivialities are stripped away until all that’s left is that tingle in your spine.