New Vid: Yeasayer - O.N.E.

by Dan | posted March 11, 2010

“O.N.E.” from Brooklyn-based experimental band Yeasayer, with its reggae-splashed beat and a chorus about counteracting heartache, might possibly be my favorite song of 2010 (so far). It’s the second single from their sophomore LP “Odd Blood,” and the new—and extremely cool—music video hit the web earlier this week.

The new video centers around a Morpheus-inspired mystery man who purportedly oversteps his metaphysical boundaries after wandering into a hipster-crowded warehouse party. In the background, Yeasayer performs in what appears to be an illuminated steel cage wrestling ring. After losing a game of “prism checkers,” our protagonist is literally bounced back into reality. In retrospect, the whole affair could pass as a scene from “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test”—if Michael Mann directed the film version.

I enjoy this video because no two people will interpret it exactly the same. And I think that’s the point. Genius.

The lyrics of the song burrow deep into memory, begging to be played and replayed ad infinitum…

One’s
Not
Enough

I won’t stop till I’ve given you up
here, right as I am
it’s hard having fun
it’s much easier said than it’s done

the room’s still now when I’m lying
cause the wet of the night has gone dry
when they ask to behave
I paid them no mind
now I doubt if I’d have been so kind

hold me like before…
hold me like you used to…
control me like you used to…

NO!

you don’t move me anymore
and I’m glad that you don’t
cause I can’t have you anymore

but I thought you should know
you don’t move me anymore
and I’m glad that you don’t
cause I can’t take it anymore