search user
Advert
Advert

Everclear - I Will Buy You A New Life

Music Video | 1998
ArtistEverclear
SongI Will Buy You A New Life
AlbumSo Much For The Afterglow
DirectorFrank W. Ockenfels III
IntroNo
OutroNo
Sound MixStereo
Technical Specificationscolour - format unknown
Release date

Wiki

Synopsis

Everclear perform inside a stylized suburban home while a woman moves through a strange, dreamlike domestic world. Art Alexakis sings directly to her as the band appears in and around the house, turning the song's promises of money, comfort, and escape into an offbeat visual fantasy. The recurring presence of an accordion-playing musician adds to the video's deliberately eccentric atmosphere. The result is a surreal portrait of longing that balances everyday household imagery with the song's larger promise of a completely transformed life.

Factoids & Trivia

  • The accordion player is Rami Jaffee of the Wallflowers. He also played vox organ on the studio recording of the song.
  • The video helped establish the song as one of Everclear's most visible late-1990s singles, alongside "Father of Mine" and "Everything to Everyone."
  • "I Will Buy You a New Life" appeared on Everclear's 1997 album *So Much for the Afterglow* and became one of the band's strongest crossover hits.
  • The song's domestic imagery reflects Art Alexakis' autobiographical writing. He described the track as a personal song, built around the desire to provide security and a better life after periods of financial hardship.
  • The reference to a house in Portland's West Hills was unusually specific. Alexakis later bought a home in Portland Heights, a wealthy area associated with the lifestyle imagined in the song.
  • The video is remembered by Everclear fans for its unusual visual presence rather than a conventional narrative payoff, with the surreal household setting and the unexpected accordion cameo becoming its most recognizable details.

Lyrics

Here is the money that I owe you
So you can pay the bills
I will give you more when I get paid again
I hate those people who love to tell you
Money is the root of all that kills
They have never been poor
They have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas
I know we will never look back
You say you wake up crying
Yes and you don't know why
You get up and you go lay down inside my baby's room
I guess i'm doing ok
I moved in with the strangest guy
...
© Everclear - I Will Buy You A New Life. This is an excerpt, provided as citation under fair-use.
Update

More Music Videos

New

Classics

Tell us what you like, or dislike:

(Optional) Leave your email to let us contact you to follow up on your feedback. Your email address will be kept private.

Leave feedback!  X