Son Volt, ‘The 99′ Music Video [Exclusive Premiere]
Son Volt take a hard look at the state of the world on their latest album, Union, which came out in March. But nowhere are the themes of confronting division and polarity more apparent than in "The 99," a musical rallying cry against income inequality.
The group brings a visual component to that sentiment with the new music video for the song, which they're premiering exclusively for readers of The Boot. Press play above to watch the new clip.
In Son Volt's "The 99" video, the band performs the song against a montage of grainy, black-and-white clips representing the injustices of poverty. Viewers see footage of soup kitchens, riots, angry protesters and police officers beating those protesters back. While the footage included in the montage highlights protests that took place long ago, the song's lyrics remind viewers that these problems are still very real today.
In addition to releasing Union, Son Volt are celebrating 25 years as a band in 2019. Despite their lengthy journey, the new album's musical themes hearken back to some of their earliest influences, bandmate Jay Farrar explained to The Boot leading up to Union's release.
"I was raised on folk music, and political content is a common thread in folk music, whether it's Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan," Farrar says. "I felt like I had to write these songs, I felt like it was my job in a way. What else can a musician do than to hopefully influence some kind of change? Maybe it's, in a small part, making someone think twice about what's going on around them."
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