The song may be a bit repetitious for my taste, but the video for Jon Brion’s “Dead Man Suit” is a must-see.

The video has a wonderful sense of the macabre and the darkly humorous. We see a headless man dancing in a graveyard. He carries a lantern, and harsh moonlight breaks through the trees. These shots follow the traditional structure of music videos, where half the footage plays like a silent film commenting on the music. In other shots we see Jon Brion – looking a little cadaverous as he stares into the lens – lip-syncing to the music.

My favorite shot comes near the end, when we see Brion buried underground and the headless man dancing above. There are some astonishing special effects, including one where the headless man appears to have the Iron Giant’s face. The song has a bit of Nick Drake’s gleeful fatalism. Like all great music videos, the filmmakers elevate the musician’s performance.