Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
Meticulous Bird
Directed by Jonny Look
By John-Paul Shiver
There is an all-night grocery store in the video “Meticulous Bird” by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, that would fare better if it kept regular hours and groceries. Thao Nguyen, who sings and performs in this San Francisco band, dances like a recalled robot, ties her hair around a sliced lemon and shoots a hole in a bag of rice with an invisible arrow. All the while blinking fish, who refuse to die, keep coming across her way in the night.
As beautifully bizarre and entertaining the video is, Thao Nguyen has made it clear that she wrote the song for survivors of sexual violence. Per a statement on her website, “Never have I felt more energized or connected or grateful onstage than when performing this song. I have loved nothing more, nor have I ever felt more honored, than to share very raw and heartfelt moments with people to whom this song has meant something.”
