Synopsis

The Afghan Whigs perform amid a grim, surreal portrait of addiction, desire, violence, and small-town excess. The video opens with stark black-and-white images of alcohol and heroin use before shifting into a long lateral tracking shot moving past bathroom stalls and fragmented scenes of desperation. Greg Dulli appears as a detached observer, presiding over a strange parade of damaged characters, sexual encounters, domestic tableaux, and rowdy Americana. The deliberately abrasive imagery turns the song's themes of seduction, intoxication, and despair into a bleak short film.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Miles Iz Ded" was originally a hidden track on the Afghan Whigs' 1992 album *Congregation*. It was also issued on releases connected with the "Turn on the Water" single.

• Greg Dulli wrote and recorded the song shortly after learning of Miles Davis' death on September 28, 1991. The title came from a message that reportedly ended with the phrase "Miles is dead. Don't forget the alcohol."

• The song was recorded quickly, using a guitar riff supplied by Rick McCollum. Its combination of punk aggression, soul phrasing, and funk-inflected guitar helped make it a favorite among Afghan Whigs fans.

• The video's extended lateral tracking shot was filmed around Hamilton, Ohio, the band's home territory. One location was Columbia Lanes, a bowling alley on Pyramid Hill Boulevard.

• A living-room sequence features Steve Earle's parents dressed in black leather inspired by Run-DMC's visual style.

• The clip's explicit imagery was unusually confrontational for alternative television in the early 1990s, yet the video still received MTV rotation.

• "Miles Iz Ded" later became the basis for "Rebirth of the Cool," a remix associated with Steve Fisk and Shawn Smith.