Synopsis

The video follows an awkward young narrator who encounters a striking punk woman at Philadelphia's Zipperhead clothing store. She draws him into her unruly world, and the pair roam through the city's streets, abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary, and other rough-edged locations. The Dead Milkmen perform amid the chaos, mixing deliberately cheap-looking band footage with comic action. Their adventure ends with the pair taking a car and driving away, turning the song's playful fantasy into a scruffy, mischievous escape story.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed partly at Philadelphia's abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary, whose decaying corridors give the production much of its grimy atmosphere.

• Several scenes were shot at Zipperhead, the South Street counterculture store named in the song. The location helped connect the video directly to the band's Philadelphia identity.

• The woman playing the punk rock girl was named Miriam. In a later interview, drummer Dean Clean said the band had been in contact with her and that she had previously performed with a group called God's Crotch.

• MTV required the band to lip-sync the performance. The Dead Milkmen reportedly agreed only after securing comic concessions, including a tuba for Rodney Anonymous and an oversized drum kit for Dean Clean.

• The song came from the 1988 album Beelzebubba and became the band's major MTV breakthrough. The video later gained another burst of attention after appearing on Beavis and Butt-Head.

• The deliberately low-budget presentation became part of the video's appeal. Rather than hiding the band's scruffy image, it uses rough locations, exaggerated performances, and awkward humor to parody polished mainstream rock videos.