We all have our favorite trainwreck songs and videos — bits of musi-cultural flotsam that we remain fascinated by, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that they repel us. One of mine is the song “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake. Man, this song has everything: an idiotic lyric, a singer who gloriously over-sings every line (my particular favorite: “I ain’t wastin’ no more taahhhm”), the wailing “here I goooo agaaaain” just before the tasteless solo; it’s just awesome.
But it’s the video I ned your help with today. I watched this for, like, the 500th time this morning, as marital get-back on my wife for making me listen to some awful Asia song she YouTubed in a fit of high school nostalgia. And, once again, I fell under its spell.
So many questions: why is the girl sprawled across two cars, when David Coverdale only ever drives one of them? Why is Coverdale’s glorious blonde mane always back-lit, making it look smaller? How is Coverdale able to drive with that girl literally crawling all over him? Why does he only smile once in the whole video — and why at that precise moment? What makes David Coverdale happy?
Though I’m looking for something a bit deeper than just a laundry list of “wait for it moments,” I would like to call a few out for your review, in the hopes they may shed some light on the intended meaning of this film.
First, Coverdale’s blatant crotch-stare at 2:00:
Now, his sweet and tender butterfly kiss, at 2:54:
Note that David’s fellow band-mates also may play important roles in the deciphering of this filmic mystery. Here’s the bass player licking his bass at 4:15:
… and don’t forget to catch the lead guitarist stumbling to his feet after falling to his knees during his fiery solo.
The question for all of these things is: why? What meaning can you find in this short film? I want — no, I need — answers.
I look forward to your responses.
HVB
Why? Because they could, of course. Next!
2. I learned not mess with Tawny Kitaen — remember a few years back she beat up her then-husband Angels pitcher Chuck Finley?
Is the chick in the video Tawny Kitaen? Question #2: who is Tawny Kitaen?
This video’s Halloween candy is the short lived Chocolate Covered Clusterfuques by Nestle.
No way, man! It’s the most ROCKIN’ halloween candy, whatever that would be. Come on, man! I made up my maaaahnnnd!
She’s Coverdale’s ex — and then there’s this from 2002. Don’t mess her, man.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/04/03/kitean_finley_ap/
This is absolutely *vital* G2, Funoka! A coveted RTH No-Prize for you, for sure. Read the following, watch the video, and tell me there’s no connection here:
He was driving Monday night when the couple began arguing, and Kitaen kicked him with her high-heeled shoes, Richards said.
“She kicked him in the thigh, in the leg, in the arm, she grabbed his ear and twisted it,” Richards said. “At one point, her high-heel shoe was on top of his foot pressing the accelerator to the ground.”
This is VITAL.
Who’s Tawny Kitaen?!? Where you been, man? She was really famous for, you know, being in this video and…stuff.
Just your every day fight with your supermodel wife, according to his GM at the time.
“What he’s going through are the regular ups and downs people go through in their personal life.”
Yeah, what Misterioso said! How can you expect us to have a fruitful discussion about this video if you don’t even know who Tawny Kitaan is? She played Tom Hanks’ fiancee in Bachelor Party for chrissake!
Are you seriously missing the car connection, Funoka? Come on, mannnn. I ain’t wastin’ no mo’ taaaaaahhhm!
This video is clearly a covert endorsement for the Chiropractors Association of America. With all that hair flipping, whiplash was inevitable.
Sorry I can’t help you with your questions at this time HVB, however I just discovered why they swapped the word “hobo” out of the chorus in the original song for “drifter” in the 1987 version. Turns out people thought Coverdale was saying “homo”.
Re: the straddling of the 2 cars, when Coverdale only drives one…Isn’t that woman Tawny Kittaen, or something like that, future wife of Howard Stern or former California Angels pitcher Chuck Finley? Doesn’t she had a slightly more insignificant twin sister named Tangy Kittaen, or something like that, who would go on to marry Stern or Finley or maybe Kelsey Grammar? I may be wrong about Tangy marrying one of those guys, but one of those sisters beat the crap out of Finley, and I’m pretty sure they posed in Playboy, which I suspect was supposed to be HOT but was actually, as twins posing in Playboy always is, creepy.
With that backstory out of the way, it’s clear the 2 cars, white-robed Kittaen, and green-robed Kittaen are part of an elaborate prank on Coverdale: the old Twins Switcheroo! If you watch the video closely, there are scenes in which the rhythm guitarist and bassist to Coverdale’s right trade axes in mid-chorus. The lead guitarist attempted to switch places with Eddie Van Halen, but Eddie wasn’t playing along. Instead the lead guitarist got stuck with a poor tape-decorated knockoff guitar and bum knees.
OK, so that was Tawny who beat up Finley (I speculated that in my analysis, written before reading all the great stuff already written).
Hvb, are you suggesting that the director’s cut of this video might feature Tawny beating Coverdale with a stiletto heel while he’s driving?
I wish my name was Tangy.
My takeaway from this video was always that Coverdale was wearing more makeup than she was.
I love you, BigSteve.
Nobody thinks this is more hilarious than Coverdale himself. Remember he was a Deep Purple singer and then his solo LP was called “White Snake” and that became his band name. They had 4-5 decent if derivative 70’s rock LPs that sounded like Deep Purple Meets Led Zeppelin meets Bad Company, but they went nowhere. “Here I Go Again” was from one of these LPs with the word “hobo” in place of “stranger” in the chorus.
Broke and “over” he managed to get a 3rd life by buying into the HAIR METAL of the 80’s and going all-in.
I read that the band thought it was so funny that the label wanted them to be so glam “can you make us look more like guurhls?” and they just went with it for the HUGE pay-day.
They do have on LP that is pretty good in a dumb-rock way ” Slide It In from 1984? The rock station used to play songs from this late at night and intro them as “The new Led Zeppelin” so people would think that the song was BY LED ZEPPELIN and the phone lines would light up like crazy.
John Sykes is a strong guitar player (was in Thin Lizzy at the time as well) and was asked to overdub a 3rd guitar over the UK version and to replace the heavy keyboards to make a rock record for the US. He played on ALL of the 1987 hit LP but was kicked out before the videos were made.
If the idea is that Coverdale was really cool and somehow above it all, I ain’t buying it.