Chevelle: An Attempt to Understand Their Videos

Many of you out there already know of the greatness that is known as Chevelle. Chevelle has grown from a softer sound a more powerful and heavy melody in four albums. As with all great bands, and even those that suck hardcore, Chevelle has produced some interesting music videos, and as of today, they have produced eight of them. If you were every curious about what these videos were about, well you've come to the perfect cyber-space.

The first video that was produced by Chevelle was for their song titled "Point #1". This video was produced in the year of 1999. The song Point #1 itself is a little confusing. The lyrics either have a hidden message concerning Christianity, or they convey a message of gaining everything, and having no one to share it with. Whichever way you interpret it, the video shows the Loeffler brothers singing in a basement-type area, and for some reason, there's a random guy on fire. The video itself leaves you with a kind of creeped-out feeling, because you don't really know what's going on. I don't see any relation to the song and the video. Well, in the Chevelle Point #1video, the guy on fire is actually in what seems to be a bathroom. The guy on fire then tries to get into a car by trying to smack his way in, but there's a girl inside who is afraid of what's going on, but you barely see her in the video. Then at the very end of the video, you see the Loeffler brothers rocking out, while in flames. To make some sense of this, the song keeps repeating the line: "Cause he'll pay for it, the whole sum...or magnify pain is point number one." And the song also mentions that "wee need a healing aloe plant." And after the burns this poor guy in the victim suffers, you would think that he desperately needs those healing aloe plants. But, aside from the strange video, this song is beautiful, and has awesome guitar riffs that will excite you from the inner core. Or they may just leave you with a feeling like you're on fire. Who knows?

In the year, 2000, the video for Chevelle's song titled "Mia" came out. And if you thought the last video was strange, this one gets even stranger. Unfortunately for us, the song doesn't seem to tie in with the video (again), and this leaves us with a feeling of somehow not being included in what the Loeffler brothers are talking about in the song. If you've ever seen any videos from another great band known as Tool, then you'll definitely see a resemblance in Chevelle's 'Mia' video and the Tool videos, such as Sober. In the Mia video, you see immediately that everything's done in clay-animation. You see a puppet (who represents the mother), holding a little puppet, which is the child. The mother keeps her child in her arms while things fall on top of her, purportedly trying to her and her baby. Eventually, her baby gets taken away from her by an image that appears to be Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary has a baby herself, and while the mom is suffering, the Virgin Mary's baby (Jesus) and the mother's baby meet each other. (Yes, this video is weirder than I'm describing.) Somehow, the mother gets her baby back, opens up a door in her chest - which leads to her heart - and shoves the baby in there. The video shows images of the baby grasping on to the mom's heart, while stuff keeps falling on her as she dodges to avoid it. The video ends with the mom running. The original idea behind Mia was so that the people listening to the music would appreciate the music, rather than the band's image. In the song, the lyrics "Why I've made the face that bugs you," are repeated. The lyrics also state in the beginning that the singer is 'made of peanuts and not of shells.' What does that mean? Is he soft on the inside, and not crunchy on the outside? Does this mean that he's more than just a pretty face? I guess we'll never know.

Luckily for us, Chevelle's video titled, 'The Red' makes much more sense than the previous two. The video works well with the song. 'The Red' talks about pure anger. In the video, you see the Loeffler brothers in an Anger Management class. A lady randomly volunteers Pete to speak in front of the class. While he's singing about how he's a freak, and how he feels singled out, you can tell that the people in the class listening to him have pent up frustrations. Then you see the room's door lock, the lights go red, and everyone starts throwing chairs, and hurting one another as Chevelle rocks out on the podium. At the very end of the video, it seems as if everything you just saw was just an illusion, which clearly illustrates that Pete Loeffler was seeing red...and it's a great feeling to know that the song you like actually have meaning, and better yet, has a nice video to accompany it. And the very best part is that it actually makes sense...

The video released in the year of 2003 by Chevelle was called 'Send the Pain Below.' This is a beautiful song about being triumphant, even when others tell you that you can never do it. I love this song because it's extremely encouraging. In the video, you see a snow-boarder who keeps falling and doing poorly. No matter how many times he falls, though, he doesn't quit trying. In the end of the video, you see that the snow-boarder finally goes the distance. This video has a cold, icy feel to it...you can see the snow-boarders breath, you can see his determination, and you can see his feeling of pride when he finally goes against the grain and achieves his goal. It's a wonderful thing to watch, when, say, you're trying to stay on a diet or even practicing to make it to the Olympics. Even though the latter is next to impossible unless you're some kind of superhuman, the point is that Chevelle's "Send the Pain Below" song and video are extremely uplifting and inspiring. The best revenge is when you do that which others always told you that you can never do. And Chevelle's video portrays just that.

Chevelle's Video titled"Closure" doesn't really match the song, but it doesn't have to. The video, which also came out in the year 2003, seems to be a compilation of photo shoots and other memories of the band when Pete, Joe, and Sam were still one unit. This video was made using a live audience, which causes excitement...almost as if we're right there experiencing Chevelle in the flesh. The song by Chevelle, Closure, talks about heartbreak, and about finding what we all seek: closure. The beginning of the song is gentle as he talks about the hope he used to have regarding his lost love, but later on, the song becomes more aggressive. Fitting...since he's describing the feeling that many people have regarding love and the disintegration of love. But yea, the video doesn't really fit the song at all, but at least we know what Pete's crooning about. That's always a positive thing.

Then there's that song we heard a million times on the radio but never got tired of: Vitamin R by Chevelle. The song is also known as "Leading us Along". This video came out in the year of 2004. This video has a surreal feeling, and in the video, you see Pete looking rather...unlike himself. There's snow falling, there's lots of 'red' references, there's a white background, and even an angel. This video actually deals with a substance that you may be familiar with: Ritalin. The lyrics state that "they're making it (pharmaceutical companies), and pushing it (doctors and society), and they're leading us along." What's absolutely beautiful about this song and the video is that they actually make sense and relate to one another. And it's sending a powerful message concerning society and how we're always accepting what we're given without the blink of an eye. (According to Sam Loeffler, Vitamin R is "about a friend, who got really into, he was misdiagnosed, and so he started taking a bottle of Ritalin a day. And this song is basically pointing the finger at him and saying "Ha Ha, you're an idiot", you know? Not really an idiot, but it was funny." I'm sure he's just trying to hide the sensitive, more society-aware part of himself. (Or at least, I'll make myself believe that!) Upon more research, I found out that Ritalin abusers experience hallucinations, delusions, as well as paranoia. This would explain the random segments in the video where Pete is actually flying, and everything else that's wonderfully odd about the video. At the end of the Vitamin R video, you see Pete, dressed in clothes that are better suited for the movie "Office Space", zoning out in what appears to be his cubicle. The elements that made up his illusion were actually items that surrounded him, which just goes to show that even though he's normal on the outside, on the inside, so much more is going on. And luckily for us, we got a glimpse of it.

In the year of 2005, Chevelle put out another video called, "The Clincher." This one's easy, because Sam Loeffler told Crush magazine exactly what was going on concerning it. He says: "... the storyboard behind it is about this little kid that's running around. Like a five year old or so and he's catching bugs and displaying them. And he accidentally catches like a pixie or like a small angel figurine, like a fairy. And not knowing it's a fairy, he stabs her through the chest and puts her on display on his wall. And then (the video) is just about him realizing that this is not like any other bug he's ever caught and figuring it out and letting her go at the end. It's not like a complicated thing; it was just an interesting subject." And the interviewer, Jason Schleweis, asked, "With this video, do you think you had to avoid any religious connotations since the song contains the lyric 'Never would I have helped to nail down' which could be interpreted as part of the crucifixion?" (This is what I always thought The Clincher was referring to!) Sam Loeffler than replies, "Yeah, I mean I suppose it could be interpreted as anything! But the idea behind it, for the song "The Clincher," is about being buried alive. And when he says "help to nail down" he's talking about nailing down the lid of the coffin. You can interpret it any way you want to though, whatever works is cool!" Nothing further need be said. Thanks Sam!

A new song, "Well Enough Alone," has become a hit since the CD came out earlier in April of 2007. The song, "Well Enough Alone" by Chevelle is going to have it's own music video by April 13, 2007. Of course, this is nothing short of exciting. In an interview with Rockline, Chevelle purportedly stated that "Well Enough Alone" was about not leaving anything important along and ignoring it. I can't say those were the exact quotes on the subject, but until we see the tangible video itself, we really can't say exactly what it's all about. (Obviously...) But Chevelle, weird videos or not, remains up there in my heart as Awesome bands...and in case you're wondering who's sharing their place, it's Coldplay. And hopefully, with this attempt to explain the videos and songs related to them, you'll leave with a more complete feeling of the song/video by Chevelle, or even have questions to ask yourself regarding these songs and videos. Until next time, keep rocking.