At Wit's End (IMHO) is probably one of the best songs on the new album, so it's cool to see the band doing something to promote it further, but given the heavy handed nature of the lyrics what kind of "official video" would you prefer to see? How about some depressing B/W affair with a sad couple in the state of breaking up. Dude you really got to check this band out! They made this kick-ass video. It's about this girl who gets raped and her husband's really struggling to deal with it. And ultimately she ends up leaving him because neither of them can do anything to salvage their doomed relationship.
I mean, the song itself is already dealing with the topic. Telling a friend to check out an extremely bleak and depressing video isn't exactly much different from telling them to listen to a song which conveys the exact same message. Depressing subject matters aren't exactly uncommon in the world of metal after all, so I don't see the issue here.
Uggh. Just thinking about it makes me glad that ELP never even attempted a music video for "Daddy". At least that would have been funny (for all the wrong reasons) while making me feel like a horrible person for laughing at its ineptitude (just like I do the song).
I agree that that'd be a terrible idea for ELP, but I feel like that's largely related to how poorly the song is already written. At Wits End really wouldn't be doomed right out of the gate in that regard.
I really doubt that on any budget they would have been able make this anything else but cringeworthingly awkward. Would probably have ended up like Rush's video for "The Pass" or perhaps like Suzanne Vega's "Luka" at best.
Well maybe you have a point considering that this band isn't exactly known for its breathtaking music videos, but I think with the aid of good direction, acting, & scripting, it could make the concept into a really poignant video. Sure it has a risk of backfiring if anything is half-assed, but I think that that'd be really subject to the time & budget of the project.
As for examples, I'd point to Metallica's Confusion as a good way to deal with a serious topic in a music video. It's not completely literal, but it's just symbolic enough to induce the emotions related to combat trauma without making it hard to take seriously. I don't see how DT couldn't do something like that, besides budget concerns or something.
I mean, obviously it's DT's choice whether they want to make a video like that, & I'm not demanding them to do it or anything, but I'm also not going to deny that I think there's a chance that they could make it work, & it'd be amazing to see them do something like that successfully.