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Music Video: Strange Powers by the Magnetic Fields

Posted in Music Video, tagged Coney Island, Strange Powers, The Magnetic Fields on January 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

In one of the first music videos from the Magnetic Fields, circa 1992, a boyish-looking girl (or girlish-looking boy?) traipses around Coney Island, riding the rides and lip-syncing a droll love song…

On the ferris wheel looking out on Coney Island
Under more stars than there are prostitutes in Thailand
Our hair in the air, our lips blue from cotton candy
When we kiss it feels like a flying saucer landing
And I can’t sleep ’cause you’ve got strange powers

Thanks to photographer and film maven Jim McDonnell for the recommendation. Watch for glimpses of Astroland, the Jumbo Jet and the freak museum in the now demolished bank building, he says.

Looking for more info about the song, we discovered there’s a new documentary, also called Strange Powers, about songwriter Stephin Merritt, who has been called “the Cole Porter of his generation,” and the Magnetic Fields. “To some they’re an iconic band. To others, they’re completely unknown,” according to the film’s trailer, which you can watch here.