One month short of celebrating the anniversary of their debut album landmark (February 24, 2017), up-and-coming Minnesotan indie rock quartet Hippo Campus have released a music video for “buttercup” - the album’s closer. It is likely to be the final music video for this album cycle, and follows the music videos for lead single “boyish”, “way it goes”, “western kids”, and a lyric video for “monsoon”.
The song falls into the more introspective half of the album (the first half deals with social commentary, presented with a dash of irony and sarcasm), and was presumably inspired by the band members’ direct experiences. It begins with a poppy and high-pitched first verse that describes what appears to be a strong-willed female character: ‘I’ll be fine on my own, she said, I don’t need you inside my head/ (She’ll be fine on her own, she'll be fine on her own)/ I'll be fine on my own, she said, all my love's wrapped in shades of red’.
The band’s signature penchant for exuberant indie rock explosiveness soon sets in, setting a scene that is more Million Dollar Baby than “Ticket to Ride”: ‘No holds barred in the ring so you'll fight me/ Give 'em hell, give 'em teeth like you taught me/ Tireless mess, seeking thrills getting bitey’. The context is unclear, but the song appears to be an ode to a rebellious female fighter who scoffs at traditional expectations of genteel femininity (and who had a rather gritty upbringing): ‘I'll be fine, I'm alright, it’s my body/ Gonna stick to my guns, like you taught me’.
The accompanying music video, which was directed by Noah Farrar and animated by Aaron Yankowiak (both are from Minnesota's College Of Art and Design), similarly foregrounds the song’s emphasis on mood and emotion over backstory and plot. Farrar revealed to Broadway World that he drew images and colors from the album’s cover instead of attempting to make sense of the song’s protagonist: "We wanted it to sort of parallel the carefree, ambitious, and rebellious feeling (Buttercup) gives off. A lot of the colors and elements throughout the video are depictions from the album cover and symbols within it, which was something that we all definitely wanted to play off of."
