Miserable (song)
| "Miserable" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Lit | ||||
| from the album A Place in the Sun | ||||
| Released | January 2000[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1998 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:15 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Lit singles chronology | ||||
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"Miserable" is a song by the American rock band Lit. It is the third single released in autumn 1999 from Lit's second album, A Place in the Sun.
Meaning
[edit]Lit's vocalist, A. Jay Popoff, said that "'Miserable' is basically about feeling like you need something really bad, and when you have it, it makes you feel like shit. Some people feel it's about a person, but it's not necessarily. It can be about addiction".[4] The first three lines describe three stages of a relationship, from the use of the homophone "come/cum" in "you make me come" to "you make me complete" to "you make me completely miserable".
Music video
[edit]Background
[edit]Once "Miserable" proved to be a popular single off of Lit's A Place in the Sun album, several ideas were drafted for the video. Lit's original pitch for the video was a compilation of concert footage from both onstage and backstage of their recent tour. This was quickly rejected by the producers, who sent in treatments for other video ideas.
One treatment that was pushed particularly hard was inspired by Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. The video was to feature a gigantic woman dressed in a bikini. The band would perform on her body before being chased down and devoured by her at the end of the video. A. Jay and Jeremy Popoff rejected the idea outright multiple times as it was presented to them, claiming it was "cheesey" and "not (their) style."
While on the set of the Pamela Anderson series V.I.P. to film an episode written around and starring the band, the giant woman treatment was pitched to them again. Once again they were about to reject it when Pamela Anderson walked by. Lit then came up with an ultimatum: they would only do the video if Pamela Anderson played the giant woman.
As soon as she was pitched the video, Pamela Anderson agreed to do it, apparently delighted by the concept, particularly the ending where she would get to eat her cast mates. Knowing that her usual fee was extremely high, Pam volunteered to do it for free, asking only that her hair and makeup crew would be paid. She also came up with the idea to have the video premiere at the end of the V.I.P. episode before its transition to MTV.
Synopsis
[edit]The song's accompanying music video, which was filmed in early February 2000 in Los Angeles, California. It was directed by Evan Bernard and produced by Keeley Gould.
The music video starts with the band performing the song on and around a giantess (named Val/Vallery in the credits and played by Pamela Anderson) who wears a white two-piece bikini and platform high-heeled shoes.
The video begins by panning over her body and then reveals her to be enormous, and that the band is performing on her butt as she lies down. The band is later seen hiking up the incline of her hip while she playfully waves at them.
With her foot casually poised in the air, the band stands on the bottom of her shoes. The giantess, meanwhile glances back and giggles at them. She casually yet playfully shakes her shoes, and A. Jay and the others struggle to keep from falling off. When they manage to keep their footing, she looks away and rolls her eyes.
This is followed by them performing on her head, her knee, returning to play on her butt, and walking across her breasts. There are also several shots interspersed of different bandmembers on her raised knee as she reclines back, watching them intently. She begins swaying to the music as the band performs around her. Shortly afterwards she starts eyeing them as she holds them.
The band goes back to performing in front of her rather than on her before it cuts to her lying down and the band on her face.
While they are performing on her face, Kevin Baldes is standing on her lips. Kevin Baldes falls in as she opens her mouth, which is when the videos starts to take a twist. The other band members panic at what they saw and run from her as she chases after them.
As the members scatter around, trying to escape the giant woman, Allen is singled out and caught easily. He is scooped up and dangled in front of her face. Allen puts his hands up and pleads as Val gazes into him with her piercing glance. She simply regards him coldly as she only cares about claiming another victim. Without hesitation she pops Allen into her mouth and devours him.
Her next target is Jeremy, who is hiding behind a speaker. She creeps up behind him and positions herself right above the guitarist. Jeremy throws his hands up as if begging her to stop, but he is inhaled. She pauses for a moment, rolling something around her mouth which she spits out, turning out to be one of his signature white-flame shoes.
Finally, A. Jay is the last one who also caught. A. Jay is held by his shirt collar pinched between her fingers as Val stares back into him and smiles deviously at him with cruel intentions. She tosses him into the air and finally catches him mid-air with her mouth, ending the video with her strolling off.
The music video was released on February 4, 2000.[5]
Charts
[edit]| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[6] | 17 |
| US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[7] | 3 |
| US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[8] | 29 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Billboard". 15 January 2000.
- ^ "Woodstock '99 Report #16: Lit Get Down, Buckcherry Get 'Lit Up'". MTV. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015.
- ^ "Lit drummer Allen Shellengberger has brain cancer". Musicradar. 23 May 2008.
- ^ Pesselnick, Jill (April 1, 2000). "The Modern Age". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 14. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 101. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ "Billboard". 19 February 2000.
- ^ "Lit Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ "Lit Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
- ^ "Lit Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2021.