You Tube Video of the Week-“Eh Hee” by Dave Matthews

This song and video is fucking breath of fresh air. Let me take a few steps back though. Dave Matthews Band is the most misrepresented band in history, or at least since I’ve been alive. Commonly associated with frat houses and the like, their music doesn’t seem to fit that crowd at all. Sure there are a few “Drinking” songs, but if you really listen, Dave Matthews is singing songs about life, peace, and grappling with concepts of religion and God. He has the lyricism and wit of some our greatest modern songwriters and I will never understand how they became linked with the frat crowd, but alas that’s how most music aficionados see them. They were my favorite band when I was younger and I am sad to say I haven’t been keeping up with them as much as I should. Last week I stumbled back and discovered that Dave Matthews (as a solo artist) released this new song “Eh Hee” on itunes as well as a video too. He played all the instruments himself and recorded it in a day. Again, this is a fucking breath of fresh air, not only for Dave Matthews fans, my own conventions regarding my relationship to Dave Matthews and the Dave Matthews Band, but music in general. Simple, insistent drums frame a bluesy guitar, deep horns, piano keys like raindrops and Dave Matthews appearing with his best southern drawl this song captures the turbulence, fear and paranoia in the chaotic world we live in. The video is also something to behold. Shot as a single take and in time-lapse photography, Dave Matthews sits on a barber chair whilst being subjected to various “things” like eggs and paint. He sits there convulsing and laughing while dancers in white provide the backdrop. It’s a slice of Avant-Garde while maintaining a sense of meaning and purpose.

Links:
Altnerate "Sand In The Face" cut of the video
Dave & Tim Reynolds version
Nancies.org the best DMB site out there
Dave Matthews Band website