“Wait and See” was originally on Shihad’s “Blue Light EP”, but was later an album track on their fourth album, “The General Electric”. That album was full of pre-millennium tension and this song and the video fit right in.
The song looks to the future and wonders, “Is there space for every boy and girl in a competitive, material world?” But it seems like the kind of doomy, dramatic thought that only happens in boom times. When things are good, you have the luxury to wonder if they’re going to be bad. When things are bad, you just want the good times to return.
The video is filmed in a scratchy sepia tone, but shows a futuristic world of electronics, metal cells and cameras. Wait – a future full of advanced electronic technology but one that looks like something from 100 years prior? Hey, Shihad totally predicted 2011 and the rise of Instagram.
Directed by Reuben Sutherland, the video won Best Music Video at the 1999 New Zealand Music Awards, the second consecutive win for a Shihad video. It’s a very stylish video. It doesn’t quite feel like a remnant of the late’ 90s, so I’m going to declare that it did have a genuinely original vision. The band seem to be at their peak, strong and confident in their rock ability. Just don’t think too much about the future.
Best bit: very briefly, the metal room has tentacles.
Director: Reuben Sutherland
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… red, hot and blue.
Directed by the extremely amazing REUBEN SUTHERLAND. took 3 months to edit and composite. He won the NZ AND Australian Music Awards for best video with this 🙂 He is now living in Croatia, and tours with his band Sculpture.
Oh, brilliant. I figure all the grainy effects would have taken actual effort back then. It looks so good.