CAKE - I Will Survive

What this video is

Released as the second single from Fashion Nugget (1996) via Capricorn Records, CAKE's 'I Will Survive' arrived at the peak of the mid-90s alternative rock crossover moment, when sardonic post-grunge bands were recontextualizing pop-cultural touchstones through an ironic lens. The video's choice to cast the frontman as a petty municipal authority figure — dispensing bureaucratic indignity on wedding couples and…

Why it matters

Represents a defining artifact of 1990s alternative rock's deconstruction of the pop cover tradition. CAKE's arrangement strips Gaynor's disco anthem to a funk-inflected rock skeleton with deadpan vocals, while Kohr's vérité direction strips the visual language of any performance glamour,…

The director

American music video director and cinematographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded SF-based production company Fire Ball Films. Began directing music videos in the late 1980s. Worked as a lighting camera assistant on The Nightmare Before…