ben lee, cigarettes will kill you - ben lee, cigarettes will kill you

What this video is

Released in 1998, 'Cigarettes Will Kill You' arrived during a golden period for Australian alternative music on Triple J. Ben Lee was 20 years old and already on his third solo album, having begun his career at 14 with Sydney band Noise Addict. The song's cigarette-as-bad-relationship metaphor resonated with a generation of young Australian listeners, landing at #2 on the 1998 Triple J Hottest 100 and #46 on the…

Why it matters

A defining artefact of late-1990s Australian indie-pop, the video captures the aesthetic grammar of the Triple J alternative mainstream: warm natural light, fast-cut editing, performance-forward framing, and an absence of high-concept gloss. Its chart success proved that confessional, hook-driven…

The director

Philip Harder (born 1965) is an American music video director and commercial director. He ran Harder/Fuller Films from 1985 to 2005 and directed at Quentin Tarantino's A Band Apart Commercials and Music Videos. His music video roster includes Prince, Foo…