Synopsis

Chris Whitley performs the song in a stark, atmospheric setting that shifts between shadowy interiors and rough urban exteriors. The camera stays close to his weathered presence, emphasizing his vocal intensity and distinctive slide-guitar playing on a 1931 National Triolian. Rather than building a conventional storyline, the video creates a portrait of an itinerant blues singer, using stark locations, moody lighting, and solitary performance images to reflect the song's themes of isolation, danger, and life lived outside society's boundaries.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released in 1991 alongside "Living with the Law," the first single from Whitley's debut album of the same name.

• The clip was filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Whitley's debut album had been recorded at Kingsway Studio, Daniel Lanois' home studio.

• Whitley plays his 1931 National Triolian resonator guitar throughout the performance. The steel-bodied instrument became one of the defining visual and sonic symbols of his early work.

• The production was made by David Naylor & Associates, with an estimated budget of $75,000.

• "Living with the Law" reached No. 28 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in 1991, giving Whitley a notable alternative-rock radio presence despite the song's blues and roots foundation.

• The video helped establish the visual identity of Whitley's debut period: intimate, weathered, cinematic, and deliberately removed from the polished pop style common in the early 1990s.