Synopsis

Matt Johnson performs The The's version of Hank Williams' gospel classic against the Manhattan skyline. The video combines close-up performance footage with sweeping aerial views of New York, presenting Johnson as a lone figure above the city. Its defining image places him on the head of a Chrysler Building eagle, where he sings high above the streets while the band performs nearby. The stark rooftop setting and vertiginous camera work turn the song's message of spiritual awakening into a daring urban spectacle.

Factoids & Trivia

• The song is a cover of Hank Williams' "I Saw the Light" and appears on The The's 1995 album "Hanky Panky," a collection devoted entirely to Williams material.

• Matt Johnson suggested the Chrysler Building location as a way of joining two American icons: Williams' enduring country-gospel songwriting and the Art Deco skyscraper.

• The video was filmed around the 61st floor of the Chrysler Building in Manhattan, with Johnson shown perched on one of its steel eagle heads.

• The shoot took place in January and involved aerial photography from a helicopter, including views of the Chrysler Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Manhattan skyline.

• The building's management was reportedly reluctant to approve the most dangerous parts of the plan. The production team therefore constructed a full-scale wooden and metal gargoyle on a nearby skyscraper for some of the footage.

• During the shoot, the crew gained access to the actual Chrysler tower. A performer was taken onto a real gargoyle head and secured with a cable around the waist.

• The production favored practical, in-camera effects rather than blue-screen or computer-generated imagery, giving the finished clip its unusually immediate and hazardous appearance.

• The video was promoted as an "alternative version" of the Hank Williams standard and helped establish "I Saw the Light" as one of the most visually distinctive clips associated with The The's 1995 period.