Synopsis

Mercury Rev perform in a surreal, dreamlike landscape under an intense orange sky. Jonathan Donahue wanders across a fragile wooden bridge while Grasshopper and Jeff Mercel carry cases filled with curious optical devices. As a storm gathers, the musicians inspect telescopes, gyroscopes, planetary models and other instruments, turning the landscape into a strange observatory. Distant figures move against the horizon, while images of the moon, mountains and symbolic objects deepen the video's atmosphere of mystery. The result is less a literal narrative than a cinematic meditation on wonder, darkness and perception.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video uses an unusually saturated, cinematic color palette, dominated by orange skies and earthy landscapes. Contemporary descriptions compared its visual scale to an old Hollywood epic or western.

• The cases carried by Grasshopper and Jeff Mercel contain optical and astronomical equipment, including telescopes, gyroscopes and planetary models. These props reinforce the song's interest in looking beyond ordinary reality.

• A Kabbalistic tree of life symbol appears throughout the video and is represented as a physical model attached to a tree near the end.

• Jonathan Donahue, Grasshopper and Jeff Mercel are the Mercury Rev members featured in the clip.

• "The Dark Is Rising" opens the 2001 album "All Is Dream." The band described that record in cinematic terms, imagining the opening track as the beginning of a film and the final song, "Hercules," as its closing credits.

• The single reached No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart, making it one of Mercury Rev's strongest charting releases.

• The video was included among the visual material issued with the limited-edition "All Is Dream" CD-ROM.