Synopsis

The video places The Zutons inside a stylized prison, turning the song's references to jail, legal trouble, and separation into a playful escape story. Dave McCabe performs from his cell while the other band members appear as fellow inmates, with a neighboring female prisoner adding another comic distraction. As the performance continues, the prisoners search for a way out, mixing deadpan humor, colorful art direction, and deliberately theatrical prison imagery. The result gives the lovesick song a light, mischievous visual counterpart.

Factoids & Trivia

• The prison setting directly reflects the lyric's question, "Did you have to go to jail?", while keeping the video's tone more whimsical than serious.

• "Valerie" was the second single from The Zutons' 2006 album *Tired of Hanging Around*. It became the band's breakthrough single in the United Kingdom, reaching No. 9.

• Dave McCabe wrote the song after meeting makeup artist Valerie Star while The Zutons were touring in Florida. He has said that most of the song came to him during a short taxi ride to visit his mother.

• McCabe described the song as a kind of musical postcard to Valerie, whose legal problems inspired the references to jail, lawyers, fines, and selling a house.

• The track was recorded with the band playing together live, reflecting their extensive touring at the time. Producer Stephen Street later suggested the opening guitar arpeggio and a change of key from E to E flat.

• The song gained a much larger international profile after Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse released their own version in 2007. The cover became so well known that "Valerie" is frequently associated with Winehouse, despite originating with The Zutons.