Drugs and Redemption

Shinedown, while not a Southern Rock band, is definitely influenced by their origins in Jacksonville, FL. Their roots have occasionally influenced their music videos as well. The video for the first song of theirs I discovered, "Second Chance," was filmed on Ann Maria Island on Florida's Gulf Coast, and the hit song "Diamond Eyes" was said by singer Brent Smith to embody the "spirit of the South." So I was pleased, but not surprised, to discover this video for the 2009 hit "Save Me."

The video features scenery and characters you would find anywhere in the Deep South, arranged around a loose theme about addiction and redemption--corresponding to, one would assume, Brent Smith's own addiction and his later struggle get clean after the birth of his son.

Some of the actors, particularly at the bar and funeral scenes, appear to be professionals. However the scenes with the dirt bike, as well as the various shots of people by houses and in rooms make it appear that they just put out a casting call for local people to show up and look interesting. Works for me.

This video was a little above and beyond for me thanks to the implicit Christian imagery in the lines--

Jump in the water

Jump in with me

Jumn on the altar

Lay down with me

--which of course allude directly to the rite of baptism, and prostrating one's self publicly in desperation and repentance. All that of course in addition to the title, which could be taken in a theological sense.

The central scene of the video, of course, is what appears to be a living-room funeral. An interesting irony I take from the situation presented is that you can be proud, you can try to keep your struggles a secret--but if you try to make it on your own and fail? Well, a funeral is pretty public. 

While Shinedown is far from a Christian band, and none of their members are openly Christian, it is refreshing for me to come across these religious references--even in a traditional sense--in modern, hard driving rock, which tends to be largely godless.