Synopsis

The video combines stark live-action performance footage with a hand-drawn animated fable. In the animated story, a small bird becomes attached to a balloon, creating an unlikely romance that gradually turns tragic. The band's dark, high-energy performance sequences are staged against a painted backdrop and contrast with the fragile, storybook imagery. As the song builds around emotional numbness and damaged love, the bird and balloon's relationship reaches an unhappy conclusion, giving the video a melancholic visual counterpoint to the band's forceful sound.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Because of You" was released as the first single from the 2009 greatest-hits compilation "Smashes and Trashes." It was one of three new songs included on the collection.

• The single marked Skunk Anansie's return after the band's 2001 split. It was their first new single in roughly a decade.

• The video uses a hybrid production method, combining animation with live-action footage of the band rather than presenting a conventional performance clip.

• Much of the live footage was filmed against a painted backdrop. The closing sequence was shot against a green screen before being integrated with the animated material.

• The video's central animated relationship between a bird and a balloon was deliberately presented as an unconventional and tragic love story.

• The video premiered online through Kerrang! on August 10, 2009, more than a month before the single's September 14 release in the United Kingdom.

• "Because of You" became a strong performer in Italy, where it reached No. 10 on the singles chart.