Synopsis

In a gloomy, isolated town, a plague doctor arrives as residents begin suffering from a bizarre illness that makes them vomit vivid rainbow colors. Rather than treating the outbreak in a conventional way, the masked stranger responds with theatrical gestures and infectious energy, gradually transforming the atmosphere of fear and disgust into something resembling a communal dance party. Deerhoof do not appear in the video, which plays like a surreal miniature horror story that mirrors the track's collision of darkness, absurdity, and exuberant release.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video premiered in June 2013, several months after the release of Deerhoof's album *Breakup Song* on September 4, 2012.

• The track is titled "Breakup Songs," while the album uses the singular form, *Breakup Song*.

• At just over two minutes, the song is one of the album's shortest pieces, and the video matches its compressed, high-impact approach with a fast-moving narrative rather than a conventional band performance.

• The plague-doctor imagery gives the song's title an intentionally indirect treatment. Instead of depicting a romantic separation, the video presents illness, social panic, and eventual release as a strange collective experience.

• "Breakup Songs" was one of several videos associated with the album. Other visual pieces from the same release included "We Do Parties" and "Fete d'Adieu."

• The album was Deerhoof's first made while the members were no longer living in the same city. Much of it was recorded separately at home and exchanged between the musicians, an unusual production context for a record built around themes of separation and reconnection.