Grant Lee Buffalo - Mockingbirds

What this video is

Released in 1994, 'Mockingbirds' arrived at the apex of the alternative rock era, when major labels competed to sign introspective, guitar-driven acts. Grant Lee Buffalo occupied a singular position: too literary and orchestral for mainstream grunge, too rock-inflected for folk purists. The song was written in the direct aftermath of the Northridge earthquake, grounding it in a specific moment of California trauma.…

Why it matters

A landmark example of mid-90s chamber-folk alternative rock finding its visual language through the lens of Europe's most celebrated music video auteur. The Corbijn aesthetic — grainy, warm, portraiture-led — gave Grant Lee Buffalo's uncategorizable Americana-meets-orchestral-rock a visual…

The director

Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (born 20 May 1955, Strijen, Netherlands) is a Dutch photographer, music video director, and film director. He began as a music photographer in the mid-1970s and transitioned to directing music videos in 1983. He…