Synopsis

Set in a windswept seaside community, the video follows Lykke Li and a black man whose romance is met with suspicion and hostility from the people around them. Moments of tenderness in a wheat field and by the water give way to public confrontations, a chase, and violence. As the couple tries to escape the pressure surrounding them, their love becomes increasingly fragile. The story's tragic separation mirrors the song's themes of guilt, heartbreak, longing, and the painful aftermath of a failed relationship.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video premiered on April 10, 2014, ahead of the release of Li's third studio album, *I Never Learn*.

• "No Rest for the Wicked" was released as the album's lead single on March 20, 2014.

• Li said she wrote the song in Sweden while packing to leave after a breakup. She described the emotions behind it as hurt, shame, sadness, guilt, and longing.

• The vocal used on the finished recording was taken from the original demo, giving the performance an unusually immediate and vulnerable quality.

• The clip expands the song's personal confession into a cinematic love story, using the couple's treatment by the townspeople to externalize emotional and social conflict.

• The video was part of the strongly visual campaign for *I Never Learn*, an album built around breakup, self-reproach, and romantic devastation.