Vampire Weekend Music Video: Giving Up the Gun
By Laura Aguirre
Vampire Weekend premiered their music video Giving Up the Gun via Spinner today, and let’s just say, tennis has made a comeback. The superstar cast includes rappers RZA and Lil Jon, Joe Jonas, and Jake Gyllenhaal — enough said.
Giving Up the Gun centers around Jenny (a friend of Vampire Weekend) and a number of opponents whom she goes up against in several matches; there’s a samurai, a gigantic woman, Joe, and Jake (to name a few) and she beats all of them. One of the best, if not the best, match is the one against Gyllenhaal, who plays a comedic tennis player who constantly sips from a flask. It’s obvious that most of the performances are improvised, but that doesn’t make the video any less amazing.
Giving Up the Gun is a soundtrack with soft melodies and a driving percussion, and the visuals (and meaning) on the clip are very strong. Frontman Ezra Koenig told Spinner:
“The heroine of the video isn’t an amazing tennis player, but she has heart. She stays calm despite the unfairness of it all.”
Overall, Vampire Weekend made a music video with originality, and the music is great, of course. Both elements work together to make this a nearly-perfect music video. Check it our for yourself!
What do you think?
