Garbage, It's Not Easy To Be Green
Songwriting, sure. Guitar tricks, absolutely. But modern rockers
also have to understand the ins and outs of a video shoot. When
we caught up with Garbage on the set of their clip for "Cherry
Lips (Go Baby Go!)," Shirley Manson took a sec to explain the
oddball action and on-camera fashion choices.
by Bayleh R. Shapiro
Don't tell Shirley Manson, but she's stunning ... from the waist
up. Once you get past the Garbage singer's new blonde hair, black
gloves and off-the-shoulder dress, however, you might notice
she's wearing an incongruous pair of tights. Green tights.
Manson's suffering this fashion disaster for her art - in this
case Garbage's new video "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)," which the
band recently filmed in Brooklyn. VH1 asked Shirley about videos,
lyrics, new songs and why she was rocking the Robin Hood look.
VH1: So, can you walk us through the video?
Shirley Manson: I can't really, because it's a bit confusing. For
half the video the band isn't even there. We're an invisible
band, which some would say is the great selling point of this
video! The storyline is probably unrepeatable on this channel. I
think you have to see the video in completion to get the whole
gist.
VH1: Can you tell us about the song?
Manson: The song came about quickly. It was the last one we
recorded on the album. I have a speeded-up vocal that makes it
sound really poppy. Normally I've got quite a low voice, but this
has a sort of Madonna/1980s-esque vibe to it. The song just came
through [drummer] Butch [Vig] playing the really crazy sample.
The sound of it sparked off these images in my head and I wrote
the lyrics in 15 minutes. The song is about transformation and
liberation and overcoming negative circumstance. The message is
really a positive one. I wrote the song for a friend of mine, so
it has an extra-special something for me.
VH1: Did you feel more comfortable writing lyrics for this
record?
Manson: I don't know if I'm more comfortable as a lyricist, but
with this album I've definitely become a better writer. What you
heard on the first Garbage album are my first attempts at
writing. Now I've been in the band for seven years, we've played
all over the world and I'm just more comfortable. So this is
probably my best attempt yet. But there's always room for
improvement, isn't there?
VH1: I take it from the green tights that the video involves
green screen special effects.
Manson: Yeah. I'm in green screen. So that's why I've got these
ridiculous Kermit the Frog legs. This is so they can eradicate my
real legs, thank God, in the video. That's why I've got gloves,
too. Once my body's removed, you want to see the hands. I would
not normally wear fancy gloves like this, with chains hanging
off. It will look good once you remove me from the equation!
VH1: Are there more outfits to come?
Manson: No. Just the one outfit. Unless you count my birthday
suit. That comes up in the video somewhere along the line.
VH1: You're playing around with your look a lot more these days.
In the "Androgyny" video you had three different haircuts.
Manson: It's weird, because I've never really been the type of
person who's gone around cutting my hair and changing my image. I
just got to the point of my life where I need to change. I want
to excite myself. I have a stronger sense of myself, so I'm ready
to try different things, whereas before I was really not very
centered. If I tried different things I felt I lost myself. Now I
know who I am, goddamnit! I'm going to dye my hair blonde and cut
it short! Cutting my hair was this amazing feeling. Just shaving
it off was a liberating joy.
VH1: What are you and the band listening to at the moment?
Manson: I listen to a lot of different stuff. I just got a new CD
by Princess Superstar called The Last of the Great 20th Century
Composers. Princess Superstar and Pete Yorn are probably the two
newest CDs we've all fallen in love with. But there's a lot of
different acts coming up like the Strokes, the White Stripes, a
UK band called Turin Brakes that I love. There's so much right
now, it seems. I hate when everyone complains, "Oh it's such a
bad time for music." They're obviously not looking hard enough.
VH1: So where's Butch today?
Manson: Well, I think this is funny. Our drummer is not very
well, so he couldn't perform his parts earlier on. We had to get
a stand-in from our management company - who looks nothing like
him, I hasten to add. He's stepping in to play the drums. He's
going to have to be here from three o'clock in the afternoon
until three o'clock in the morning in an invisible suit, i.e. a
green suit like my green legs here. When the video comes out you
won't even be able to see he was in it, because he's going to be
invisible. I think that's pretty sad, really! Let's hope he's got
some rhythm. Rock managers aren't known for their rhythm. But
we'll see.
VH1: So if the band's invisible, what's going to keep the viewers
interested when they watch the video?
Manson: It sounds really dodgy until you see the finished thing,
but there's a shot of me - and it may be a first for television
ever - a shot of me peeing in our video. So there's that to look
forward to! If indeed that's something that anyone can look
forward to!
--
gender is just an excuse, relationship shouldn't just be an excuse,
love is often an excuse, although sometimes these excuses are all
we have to hold onto,
death is the reason and living is the celebration
- Beth Orton
--
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