Synopsis

Beck drifts through Manhattan in cowboy clothes, carrying a portable boombox as the city moves around him. He passes through crowded streets, transit spaces, traffic, storefronts, and industrial waterfronts while performing directly to the camera. The imagery repeatedly freezes into strange living tableaux, turning ordinary pedestrians and urban details into surreal compositions. As the journey continues, the video reveals that Beck has been watched by a group of shadowy observers, adding a playful mystery to its otherwise restless portrait of a musician wandering through New York.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in New York City, with locations including Grand Central Terminal, Tribeca, Broadway, and 140 Broadway in Lower Manhattan.

• The red cube sequence was filmed at 140 Broadway, outside the landmark office building designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

• Visual artist Ash Beck created the oversized billboard images of Beck seen in the Wall Street scenes.

• The video's freeze-frame compositions and sudden zooms give the street footage the feel of a series of staged photographs rather than a conventional performance clip.

• Its visual language includes references to the films "Midnight Cowboy" and "The 400 Blows," particularly in its lonely urban wandering and observational street imagery.

• At the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, the video won Best Male Video and Best Editing. Beck received five awards at that ceremony, with the other three going to "The New Pollution."

• The video helped establish the distinctive visual identity of the "Odelay" era, alongside the videos for "Where It's At" and "The New Pollution."