Synopsis

In a brightly colored world of face-painted children, Merrill Garbus joins a young ensemble that dances, sings, plays instruments, and erupts into wild physical performances. The playful scenes are interrupted by images of children trapped or controlled: one boy is confined among balloons, while a girl appears suspended like a puppet. A beating heart becomes a striking symbol of creativity and emotional life. By the end, the children break free into a noisy, joyful collective celebration.

Factoids & Trivia

• The performers came from Brightworks and the San Francisco Rock Project, a nonprofit music-education program in the San Francisco Bay Area.

• The video was connected to a fundraising campaign for the San Francisco Rock Project, which aimed to create an instrument-lending library.

• The concept was developed in response to cuts affecting arts programs in public schools. Its images of confinement represent music, dance, and visual art being taken away from children.

• The video followed the child-centered approach of the earlier "Bizness" clip, with some familiar young performers appearing again.

• The beating-heart sequence used real pig hearts. Ten were brought to the set, and the production team experimented with making one beat.

• The heart was intended as a deliberately direct image of art as something connected to the heart and soul.

• "My Country" appeared on tUnE-yArDs' 2011 album "w h o k i l l" and received its music video in April 2012.