Synopsis

Silverchair perform amid a futuristic political uprising as young protesters challenge an authoritarian government. A grotesque, puppet-like politician addresses the public while riot police confront the crowd with water cannons and tear gas. The band's performance is intercut with images of disorder, repression, and resistance, turning the song's attack on political authority into a theatrical street battle. The video closes on the idea that the supposedly powerless youth may ultimately overwhelm the leaders trying to control them.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed on January 23, 1999, at the Martin Place Amphitheatre in Sydney.

• Australian actress Maggie Kirkpatrick plays the robot politician. She later explained that her Newcastle background helped create a connection with the band, who also came from Newcastle. Her niece and nephew had attended school with the members of Silverchair.

• The video uses a deliberately exaggerated human-puppet politician rather than a realistic public figure, matching the song's sarcastic attack on authority and political certainty.

• The protest scenes place Silverchair's performance inside a conflict involving riot police, water cannons, tear gas, and a hostile crowd. The approach gives the clip a confrontational, almost dystopian tone instead of presenting the band in a conventional performance setting.

• Daniel Johns said the song itself came from a dream and described its subject as young people rebelling against those considered more important. He also stressed that the chorus was meant sarcastically, not as a literal political program.

• "Anthem for the Year 2000" was the first single from Silverchair's 1999 album "Neon Ballroom." It reached number three in Australia and became one of the band's most recognizable songs from that period.

• The video won the 1999 MTV Australia International Viewer's Choice Award.

• The clip was later included on "The Best Of Volume 1: Complete Videography," a video collection covering Silverchair's promotional films from 1994 through 1999.