Verlaines - "Death & the Maiden" video

bunny hops around while band play really cool song

[@jasondykes]

The first gig I went to was to see these guys. I sneaked out of school with a friend and his older brother and saw them playing at Waikato Uni in 1984. I made the mistake of wearing colour - all the older students were wearing black jeans and jerseys and drinking from 750mm bottles. But this song was a standout and I'll never forget it.

[@reubsmusicaljournal]

Ah. the Verlaines. This is one of the truly great New Zealand songs. I'm lucky enough to have of the original, hand numbered 7" singles. Always makes me wonder, if music this good is still this obscure .. what else must be out there that we don't know about.

[@dartmouthhoop]

Sadly an era long gone by....again thanks for posting!!!

[@lillebjorn]

Cool you discovered this. This is Dr Graham Downes's Band (Lead singer) 'The verlaines' one of many NZ bands signed to The kiwi label 'Flying nun' in the 80's he now teaches at Otago University, and still puts out amazing albums..

[@KniDonovan]

Meaning of the lyrics You'll only end up like Rimbaud Get shot by Verlaine, Verlaine, Verlaine, Verlaine.... The lyrics above refer to Paul Verlaine, who was a French poet in the 1800's. After going into a drunken rage, he shot his lover - fellow poet Arthur Rimbaud. Paul Verlaine was also the band's namesake. Shall we have our photo taken? We'll look like Death and the Maiden This is a reference to a 1916 painting by Egon Schiele, which shows a woman embracing a dead man.

[@reubsmusicaljournal]

Ah. the Verlaines. This is one of the truly great New Zealand songs. I'm lucky enough to have of the original, hand numbered 7" singles. Always makes me wonder, if music this good is still this obscure .. what else must be out there that we don't know about. See also Pyromanic. Ah.. I feel 17 all over again.

[@KiwiShamoo]

I remember seeing these guys play this at my University orientation back in 1992 .The Bats, Chris Knox and The 3Ds played that year as well...all lo-fi gods!!

[@Lcacique]

How fucking wonderful! I've loved the Verlaines for a lifetime. It's impossible to find there stuff in the U.S. Thanks so much for posting this glorius footage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to go drink a beer and smile!

[@forlani2446]

This is right in my listening wheelhouse. Heard about this band on NPR of all places. Where have I been all my life? LOVE THEM.

[@MsMiguel70]

Wonderful band, magic song, cool video.

[@dartmouthhoop]

I never, ever, EVER thought I'd see this video again!!! Just a great,great band as were so many New Zealand bands in the 80's/early 90's. This site ceases to amaze me on what I find here!!

[@witchgreens]

god, man if nothing else good ever came outta nz, id still be proud to be from here, just because of this song. its so great.

[@diskochimp]

"Verlaineverlaineverlaineverlaineverlaine..." - thanks for this...

[@StephenArnoldnz]

fantastic band. remember seeing them at warners in chch must have been early 90's. they were fantastic.

[@oncassette]

just found this video while searching for tom verlaine/television stuff. this is great! why have i never heard of these guys?

[@julianterris]

I love these people.

[@TheNeoKalashnikovs]

great video my dad recommend this song to me. I think we might do a cover of it. Great to see a song/video that was not funded by NZ on Air :)

[@Blackscorpion1963]

'The way you think is oh-so-bloody stale Your sanity looks pretty frail You have to clutch at every tiny straw And I can't stomach that at all'

[@NodeNorth]

I love this album, Juvenilia. It didn't get the best reviews at that time, but those were different times. Some albums stand the test of time, and this test is strangely random. I don't know what I mean by that, but it still seems true. My buddy, Shannon, sent me a tape back in the eighties with a few of their songs mixed in with all sorts of stuff - The Gordons, too! - and it always stood out. Now and again I scour around online looking for evidence that this album existed, but alas...

[@graves666]

nice... loving this. SF, CA

[@NodeNorth]

Hey, thanks! I just downloaded it, and what a joy it is!

[@rattlecake]

and then The Clean came along to make you even prouder.

[@fantasie]

thank god this is on youtube. i'm so happy. ahhhhh.

[@mattaki]

i love this band. i miss this band.

[@Oilisdeathtomany]

Man, we had some cool houses in those days. Now all the toffs have bought them, done them up, sold them off and all that students and the low income can afford are shitholes. Love, love, love this song.

[@JeremyPCresswell]

I think you mean cold houses rather than cool houses. Ba ha ha. A few iceberg sleeping bags made it cool though.

[@Apirana100]

Jeremy Cresswell Sure were freezing. Now nice, warm and liveable. Some things never change ,however, and one certainty in life is a student feeling that the world owes him/her a living! Never mind. I saw Vs many a time and they still sound as great today.

[@rachelmoore1455]

Yes it is my brother jonathan's old flat now demolished just below Moana Pool. The room is painted pink with some khaki furniture inspired by Win Livesay and advised by moi.

[@DeirdreKennedySF]

The Sixties didn't make it to New Zealand till the Nineties. Love these guys. So poetic.

[@Dunshaggin]

this is early 80s but your close

[@jimneill6254]

Ahhhhhhhh..Love the flying nun era Sneaky Feelings....Bats Chills

[@maggiesausage]

Whenever I'm walking down the street and this song pops up on my MP3 player I always find myself unwittingly matching my step to the waltz part. Yeah, I get funny looks.

[@KARENK72886]

I will always love you, Verlaines! nz to a tee!

[@Pantouflard]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this gem.

[@oleus23]

one of the top ten videos of all time, for me anyway....probably top 3, or 2, or perhaps #1

[@styxcreek]

Any country in which The Fall can get into the top 40 must have something going for it. As an Australian I must say i really envy the Kiwis.

[@MikeDCpodcasts]

this song gives me such warm feelings.

[@RanceChampion]

I'd go so far as to say these guys are the best band to come out of New Zealand. Graeme Downes is a pop genius.

[@JeremyPCresswell]

How many bunnies died to make this video!!! Ba, ha, ha, probably more Otago students died than bunnies. Awesome!

[@hollowmenrule]

the bunny is cute, the song is great

[@maggiesausage]

I was always disappointed he wasn't torn apart by an angry mob at the end.

[@54spiritedwill54]

They're just such a great band.

[@KniDonovan]

By the way I LOVE This video! I am so glad it was sent to me!

[@RanceChampion]

you're right, it's a goldmine down there.

[@chelseabrooks]

i like this video a lot.

[@esrevernidellepS]

I've loaded this vid a bunch of times. My guess is you could cut that number in half.

[@dudeman1999]

Come on dont to this to us. Just say 20 years that feels so much better.

[@richardjacques8239]

awesome song

[@Petorian2012]

Cepa Tepa, you look like me in the mirror. My mum is proud, so am I.

[@Pantouflard]

Heh! Got that. Thanks for the reference ;)

[@weswally1]

You might like "Deerhunter" they were just in NZ...

[@mellkiades]

And the American east coast kind of copied all these great NZ bands in the 90's with their own "alternative mellow" genre as I call it. Grandaddy is, in my opinion, the one band that surpasses them all. There's also Neutral Milk Hotel and others on the Elephant Six label. I wish bands like Grandaddy and NMH would join some of those great NZ bands in an interview or a big show, or a world tour together.

[@dartmouthhoop]

Right up there with Flight of the Concords for NZ's best!!!

[@Louiseskybunker]

THANKYOU to SMARTPANTSER DIVISIONS, xxx

[@shesaiddestroy000]

what a a band !!!!!!!!!!

[@PatrickAlanMcL]

Great song, shocker of a video, even for that vintage. "well, th Bats are still together!" Buddy, the bats aren't fit to roadie for the verlaines

[@antonfjordson]

yeah but who killed sgt pepper? that's what i would like to know...

[@essjaywhy]

klassic kiwi kringe-worthy shoe-gaze uni-sex fashion & dancing

[@juliioopp]

Nz tunes from back in the day! if your into this check out straightjacket fits ... she speeds ..

[@harrytheelephant]

New Zealand!!!!!!!

[@andreaneilcmc]

Listen to Lorraine by Bad Manners . The chorus is uncannily similar to the chorus of this song. Verlaine, Verlaine, Verlaine, Verlaine.

[@putumcdonald8075]

check out the stones around and round, rolling stones citadel is fab too

[@Petorian2012]

and geuss what else my other mums on that too, i just found out, aaaahahahaha. the one with the bunny at the end - shes my real one.

[@Petorian2012]

shes the one making the eyes at the end.

[@dlanodrelda]

New Verlaines album coming December 2007...

[@doltifantara]

classic rabbit, cute rabbit, thank you to iconic kiwi Flying Nun band The Verlaines

[@doltifantara]

another label from those days was Failsafe, mostly nz bands were jingly jangly indie guitar such as Straitjacket Fits and Bailter Space

[@putumcdonald8075]

bad manners Lorraine Lorraine Lorraine Lorraine and the death of Iron Maiden

[@blacklightposter]

Hey guess what! This reminds me of The Church just a little-bit. =5stars !

[@Kate77777]

beest eever!

[@dartmouthhoop]

only 21,000+ views....what a sad commentary on our world...oh well, at least there are 21,000 cool people in the youtube world!!

[@InTentsDream]

Put on Daddy's Highway or Live at the National Grid and see if you can still say that.

[@CRAWBURGER]

LOUDER!!!!

[@casinodelonge]

Greame Downes looks like Richard Ashcroft but with real talent!

[@ashleegh]

OMG

[@barrydelisle8655]

Should of been bigger than it was. Sadly didn't get much airplay on radio

[@MikeDCpodcasts]

verlaine, verlaine, verlaine, verlaine,.....

[@Petorian2012]

my mums on that video. Im paul verlaine

[@CoalMiningPolak]

🐰

[@mellkiades]

I prefer the Tall Dwarfs by a universe to the Verlaines and the Bats.

[@holygalaga]

^bragging^