video #03: Bjork - I Miss You

By the time that "I Miss You" was released as a single, Post had already inspired three videos from Michel Gondry, as well as contributions from Spike Jonze and Stéphane Sednaoui. It's probably safe to say that the entire Directors Label series would have never even gotten off the ground if not for these groundbreaking videos ("Possibly Maybe" aside). John Kricfalusi was called on to produce a video for "I Miss You," the sixth (!) single from Post and one of his first works after being strongarmed off "The Ren & Stimpy Show" by network executives. Judging from the DVD commentary I've heard, his removal was hardly a decision that he gracefully accepted. The plummeting quality and ratings of the show in subsequent seasons may have vindicated him, but at the cost of one of the funniest television shows ever made.

No Ren or Stimpy here, but George Liquor makes a quick appearance in the video. His nephew, Jimmy the Hapless Idiot Boy, gets significantly more screen time, where he dances with Bjork and puts acorns on his ass. When I first saw this video almost ten years ago, I assumed he was doing this for a reason that was beyond my young virgin mind, but even now I don't have the slightest idea what this is supposed to mean. Not that much else in the video makes sense. It all might just be John K making up for lost time, running through every idea that had been stonewalled by the censors at Nickelodeon and then some.

Three more weeks until the release of Volta. I was amazed by the proposed cover art that was announced on her website (I know it was on April 1, but it seemed pretty clear that it wasn't a joke), although it looks like another cover was chosen for the final release instead.