THE VIDEO Keel, "Because the Night", The Final Frontier, 1986, Gold Mountain
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SAMPLE LYRIC "[Because the night!] / belongs to lovers / [because the night!] / belongs to luhhh-ust / [because the night!] belongs to lovers / [because the night!] / belongs to uhhhh-us"
THE VERDICT Semi-embarrassing admission: In spite of the fact that allmusic neglects to mention Keel's cover of it, theirs is my favorite version of this song. It must also be mentioned that this is in spite of my being a tremendous Bruce Springsteen fan. I'm surprised Keel didn't opt for the more manly lyrics Bruce puts in. And yes, I get chills hearing Bruce sing it, especially going into that first chorus.
The same can't be said for the arguably more well-known (and ostensibly the original, though since she and the Boss co-wrote it, who knows) Patti Smith version, from which Keel takes the lyrics used here. Personally, I've always found her voice grating. I think it's also, however -- and this is no fault of Patti Smith's, since this happened way later -- it reminds me of the 10,000 Maniacs version, which was a staple of dances at my WASPy private middle school.
In spite of its much-vaunted proximity to New York, hip hop had not yet penetrated these whitest reaches of Connecticut, and thus our school dances included stuff like this. I wish I could remember what fast songs were played, because these were undoubtedly hilarious as well -- the only one I can remember was "Magic Carpet Ride." Yes, in the face of a musical landscape that was rapidly turning away from more or less standard guitar-oriented music (of which grunge was arguably the last gasp), the students at my middle school and the associated high school focused their energies on classic rock (particularly Zeppelin and Hendrix) and whatever metal was still around (the Use Your Illusion albums were more or less canonized; girls who wanted something less abrasive turned to the new, shorter-haired Bon Jovi).
The last dance of the night was always Zeppelin's "Stairway." This meant that by the time you'd finally ginned up the courage to ask someone to dance, you had to do it before "if there's a bustle in your hedgerow" because the song was only speeding up from there. It was the classic "Come Sail Away" problem -- dramatized in the first episode of Freaks and Geeks as well as in The Virgin Suicides. (I couldn't find good links for either but both are worth watching anyway.)
Thus if I associate "Because the Night" with one thing, it's either staring pathetically at or slow-dancing awkwardly with short, preppy boys in 1993 and 1994. Trust me, this was a hard association to break. But I can attribute it to a couple of things: Removing the piano motif at the beginning, punching up the fast/slow transitions with a total guitar assault, and Ron Keel's amazing vocal on this song.
I'm less a fan of the breathy harmonizing on the part of the rest of the band (though it definitely works for this style of lyrical metal). But Keel's voice! On this track it's got qualities I just don't hear in other Keel songs, and certainly not in his stuff when he was in Steeler. I think this cover is the first indication we have of where Ron Keel winds up going when he turns into Ronnie Lee Keel, country dude. It's a bit nonsensical, but in trying to come up with words to describe this vocal I keep hitting on things like smoky, honeyed, rich -- so more or less I'm describing barbecue (and Keel is of course from Tennessee!). Heaven knows I love barbecue, so this can't be a bad thing. It also may help to explain why whenever I hear the Keel version of this song, I am absolutely compelled to sing along.
But this is supposed to be a blog about videos. Sooo, what happens in this video? We get numerous spotlit shots of the band members, who are otherwise in complete darkness. I know that sounds like it would look like a thrash video, but trust me, it doesn't since details like their shirts or guitars keep being colored in with bright, very 80s hues. It's less thrash, and more those posters of kids kissing, which are apparently all the work of one woman.
We also get a subplot with Ron Keel, dressed very late 80s or very well, now in a big denim jacket, aviator shades, skinny jeans, and red leather gloves, following around a mysterious blonde who we never quite see. She swims across a pool in a leopard-print maillot, rollerskates along a boardwalk dressed like Debbie Gibson, and lies around a dramatically-lit apartment being sexy a la Tawny Kitaen.
As per the lyrics, Ron can only see her at night. But we have to wonder if the model/actress in this video ever actually saw him, since they're never in the same shot -- all the stuff we actually see at night basically consists of reaction shots of her face and then close-ups of hands fumbling with clothes. By the time the video ends, and we see her on her balcony watching the sun rise, she's alone again without Ron Keel. Quelle disappointment!
I would also be remiss to cover a Keel video without mentioning Marc Ferrari -- a talented guitarist, but also let me say quite the little hottie with that Bonnie Raitt streak in the front of his hair! Love it. Makes me want to put one in myself. Technically I had one circa 1996 or so, but that was a different time with different hair. In that regard at least, much like the 80s.