Synopsis

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy wanders through a stark, Western-like landscape in an oversized bird costume, turning the song's troubled dream imagery into an eerie visual fable. His strange figure moves through open terrain and encounters scenes that feel both absurd and ominous, blending deadpan humor with a mounting sense of unease. The video builds toward an unsettling final image involving a large boulder, leaving the outcome deliberately unclear rather than resolving the story in conventional fashion.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in Atascadero, California, at a falconer's property. The location helps give the short film its unusual mixture of wilderness, animal imagery, and frontier atmosphere.

• Will Oldham was dressed in the bird costume when he learned by telephone that his father had died unexpectedly. He chose to complete the day's filming before taking the next available flight home, making the footage especially difficult for him to revisit.

• The production credits list Lana Kim as producer and Jim Frohna as director of photography.

• The ending existed in several versions. One cut showed the boulder striking the boat and the camera continuing underwater, while the released version stops short of showing the impact, preserving the video's comic yet disturbing ambiguity.

• "Cursed Sleep" was the first single from the 2006 album *The Letting Go*. The video was also included in music-video programs at SXSW in 2007 and other international short-film festivals.