Even though I struggle to make sense of it, the lyrics, music and image all seem to combine seamlessly to create an interesting piece of media. And that’s part of the reason why this video clip is so appealing to me. The video holds back information, confronting the viewer with ambiguous unclear depictions. From Whiskey Maple to Root Beer Habanero, this collection packs enough tender love to make his stomach swoon with scandalously savory flavor. Heart-Shaped Box definitely seems to gain energy from defying narrative conventions. In the book Experience Music Video, Carol Vernaliss explores the idea that music video is primarily anti-narrative. This colouring style was influenced by old school Hollywood film such as Wizard of Oz. Coribjin shot the original video in colour, transferred it to black and then sent it to Mexico where each single frame was hand painted in a style that mimicked Technicolor. Cobain wanted the video to be shot in Technicolor but for some reason this wasn’t possible. What makes this video amazing to me is the process it went under post-production. For instance, the poppy fields most likely represent his heroin addiction. However, there are a lot of elements in which you could guess the subtextual meanings. He was famous for having multiple meanings to a song and other times no meaning at all. I don’t think anyone knows except Cobain exactly what everything in this video means and how it all comes to together. None of this would be surprising as Cobain was once religious before turning away from the church. Maybe Cobain is trying to compare Christianity to a popular fantasy. ![]() There’s also a lot of surreal Wizard of Oz imagery for instance the poppy fields and crows, the witches hat, the cross may be the scarecrow. She is even jumping to save to save the hanging foetus. Furthermore, the little girl is dressed like the KKK but also like the pope comparing the two. This is shown through the old man wearing the Santa hat and then later the catholic mitre aka. Some believe the video slamming the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion. It’s a common belief that the song is about Kurt Cobain’s intimate relationship with Courtney love. There are lots of interpretations of what both the song and the music video are about. In other words the video is absolutely mental. The video features the old man on the cross, a fat woman in an anatomic body suit, a young Ku Klux Klan girl supported by mechanical birds, fields of poppies and butterflies. Influenced by themes already explored in Nirvana’s music previously. ![]() Majority of the ideas for the video actually came from front-man Kurt Cobain himself and not Anton Corbijn. Although visually colourful the video is disturbing and the assumed meanings within this video are dark. The album itself already had controversial artwork and controversial language for instance the song ‘rape me’, therefore it needed a perfect video to match. To support the record they release a single music video directed by Anton Corbijn for the song Heart Shaped Box. In September 1993 Nirvana released In Utero, an album in which at the time people said defined the generation. "Heart-Shaped Box" was the last song Cobain performed live with Nirvana, on Main Munich, Germany.Heart-Shaped Box – Nirvana (Directed by Anton Corbijn) The music video, directed by Anton Corbijn, garnered critical plaudits, and won two awards, including Best Alternative Video at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1994. The single made the top 10 in several countries, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland and New Zealand, and the top 40 in numerous other countries. Though Nirvana's record company DGC Records did not release a physical single in the United States, fearing it might damage album sales, "Heart-Shaped Box" received much American radio airplay, reaching number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was one of two songs from the album mixed by Scott Litt to augment the original production by producer Steve Albini. It was released as the first single from Nirvana's third and final studio album, In Utero, in 1993, and appears as the third track. "Heart-Shaped Box" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain.
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