The Gift That Keeps Giving
"The Gift That Keeps Giving" | ||||
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Single by Super Furry Animals | ||||
from the album Hey Venus! | ||||
Released | 25 December 2007 | |||
Recorded | Miraval Studios, France | |||
Genre | Experimental rock | |||
Length | 3:20 | |||
Label | Rough Trade Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Super Furry Animals | |||
Producer(s) | Super Furry Animals with David Newfeld | |||
Super Furry Animals singles chronology | ||||
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"The Gift That Keeps Giving" is a song by
The song was conceived as a Christmas single
A Team D.A.D.D.Y. directed[6] music video was made to accompany the track's release as a single. The video features a spoilt child being showered with Christmas presents while poorer children are shown in tears due to their lack of gifts. Two different endings for the video were produced - in one Santa Claus is shown crucified on a cross while another sees Santa laid on the floor with an arrow through his head.
Origins and recording
In a 2008 interview with Uncut singer Gruff Rhys stated that "The Gift That Keeps Giving" was written as an "AOR Christmas single" following a visit to Japan where "they celebrate Christmas as a commercial holiday with all the decorations .. in one store they had Santa on a cross hanging from the wall ... so the Christmas single was just an excuse to have Santa on a cross on the cover".[2] Although the cover art did not in the end feature this scene, a crucified Santa does appear in the accompanying music video.
Speaking to British music magazine Artrocker Rhys offered another explanation as to the origins of the song:
Geoff Travis asked us for one of our pop records, so we thought a pop record should have a Christmas single. And we'd been playing around with this phrase, because we'd had a Scottish engineer who helped us make the 22 minute version of "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" and er... he always used to say 'it's the gift that keeps giving!' He was just referring to the length of the song... but we found out it's also a popular American shopping phrase.[3]
The track was recorded at Miraval Studios, France along with the rest of Hey Venus![7]
Musical structure
"The Gift That Keeps Giving" is 3 minutes 20 seconds long
Critical response
Critical reaction to "The Gift That Keeps Giving" was generally positive with the
Billboard noted that "the group's penchant for sonic flourishes is used to subtle effect" on "The Gift That Keeps Giving" and went on to suggest that the track is representative of Hey Venus! as a whole.[14] Cokemachineglow, however, thought that the song "will be cast into the void, one daring, lonely piece of the first Super Furry Animals album to not succeed as a thorough unit"[15] and, in their single review of "The Gift That Keeps Giving", the NME suggested that the track wasn't one of the group's best.[16]
The band's decision to employ Japanese surrealist Keiichi Tanaami to produce the cover for Hey Venus! and its singles received some criticism,[4] not least because the artist had already used similar designs. In a 2005 interview with German magazine Komakino, keyboard player Cian Ciaran stated that the artwork for "The Gift..." was unique, however, and praised the artist.[17]
Music video
The video for "The Gift That Keeps Giving" was directed by Team D.A.D.D.Y.[6] and revolves around a festive theme in keeping with the track's release date of Christmas day.
The video opens with a spoilt child opening numerous Christmas presents including a toy train, a box full of kittens and a copy of Hey Venus! (which he throws over his shoulder in disgust). Towards the end of the video less privileged children are shown crying at their lack of presents before we cut back to the initial child who is surrounded by gifts while Santa Claus is seen in front of a log fire, crucified on a cross. An alternative ending instead features Santa lying on the floor with an arrow through his head.
Despite the apparently cynical nature of the video,
Track listing
All songs by Super Furry Animals.
- "The Gift That Keeps Giving" – 3:20
Although the track was initially reported to come with an "exclusive b-side" this turned out not to be the case and only "The Gift That Keeps Giving" was made available.[1][18]
Personnel
- Gruff Rhys: Vocals
- Huw Bunford: Guitar
- Guto Pryce: Bass guitar
- keyboards
- Dafydd Ieuan: Drums
- Kris Jenkins: Percussion
- Matt Sibley: Saxophone
- Gary Alesbrook: Trumpet
- Nick Atwood: Trombone
References
- ^ a b "Super Furry Animals to give away Christmas MP3". NME. 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ a b Martin, Piers (April 2008). "Album by album: Super Furry Animals". Uncut. 131: 70–72.
- ^ a b c Rawlins, Ric (2007). "Super Furry Animals interview". Artrocker. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ a b c "Hey Venus!". NME. 2007-08-29. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ BBC Wales. Retrieved 2008-04-10. [dead link]
- ^ Hey Venus! (CD booklet). Super Furry Animals. London: Rough Trade Records. 2007. p. 6.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- Pitchfork Media. Archived from the originalon 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
- ^ a b Dobson, Gareth (2007-08-27). "Super Furry Animals: Hey Venus!". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 2008-01-26. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ a b Salmon, Chris (2007-12-21). "A season for giving". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ Webb, Adam (2007-08-31). "Hey Venus". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
- ^ Minden, Sonia (2008-01-24). "Hey Venus!". UCSD Guardian. Retrieved 2008-04-10. [dead link]
- ^ Carpenter, Troy (2007). "Hey Venus!". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ Sinacola, Dom (2007-08-31). "Hey Venus!". Cokemachineglow. Archived from the original on 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
- ^ "The Gift That Keeps Giving". NME. 2008-01-14. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
- ^ Jeganathan, Robin (c. 2007). "Hey Cian!". Komakino. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ "Albums, Hey Venus!". Super Furry Animals official website, discography page. c. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-01-25. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
External links
- Music video at official Rough Trade Records YouTube channel
- Music video (alternative ending) at official Rough Trade Records YouTube channel