Video: The White Stripes: "Conquest"
Ah, the matador: tragic muse of Ernest Hemingway, love interest in a Madonna video, and yet another way of exploiting little people per a recent USA Today article. The bullfight is a natural setting for the White Stripes' cover of Corky Robbins-penned "Conquest" (most famously recorded by Patti Page in the 1950s), given the song's Spanish feel, flamenco-like rhythm, and sinuous horns. As previously reported, the video for the song was shot in Artesia, California, with Diane Martel; Martel's previous work includes Franz Ferdinand's "Do You Want To" and ODB's "Brooklyn Zoo", according to MTV's Subterranean, which is hosting the Stripes clip.
In the "Conquest" video, Meg White hands matador Jack his red cape, the crowd screams for blood, and the Stripes singer dances with the huge beast. The other bullfighters get the killing started, but, looking into the creature's crying eyes (and, uh, puckering lips), Jack can't quite bring himself to finish the gory job. True to the song's lyrics, the hunter becomes the prey. Not the most creative premise, perhaps, but it's amusing and cinematic in its execution. Olé.
[from Icky Thump; out now on Warner Bros.]