Music Video Monday: "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades"

For some reason, this video never gets old.  Or at least, never stops being cool... to me.  As anyone who's ever listened to Brand New probably knows, "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades" is about sex, and it's also (debatably) the song that introduced the larger public to the band.  This seems to give both the song and video a black eye when looking back on it, but I don't necessarily think that that's appropriate.  In no way is it the best track on 2003's classic, Deja Entendu- that honor could be tossed up between a number of other songs- but it is still the type of song that made Jesse Lacey famous; that is using clever metaphors and imagery to depict the problems in his life, or his own social criticisms.  I personally consider it (comedically) as the band's first attempt at making a rap song, but either way, an enjoyable song I can still look back on fondly enough.

The premise of the video is basically what I touched on before, Lacey, the main character here, is running from something, then suddenly takes control of everyone around him.  Near the end, when he's about to use his newfound control on a female (an allusion to the theme of the track), he is suddenly taken control of himself, by a dark figure in the background.  I'll assume this is societal constructs or stereotypes.  Suddenly, he is helpless, and seemingly worse off than he was at the start.  A great video that uses some great imagery and symbolism.  Even when they were making music that vaguely resembled the Taking Back Sundays (pre-2005, of course) of the world, the band's sound still seemed smarter than what their peers were putting out, and I think this video's indicative of that.  Check it out below.