Pitchfork

If anybody has the blues, it's Stephin Merritt, the creative force behind the Gothic Archies, whose The Tragic Treasury: Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events-- as previously reported-- soaked the world in gloom this week.

Merritt and current Archies co-conspirator/ Unfortunate Events scribe Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) take a cue from Bob Dylan's oft-parodied "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video in this GSD Group-directed teaser clip for the Archies' "Scream and Run Away". It features about half of the actual Merritt-penned tune, with Snicket (face obscured, as always) tossing through a series of unfortunate (and funny) cue cards. Hilarious too that Count Olaf can't count.

And don't worry, there's also some screaming and running away.

Significantly less funny, but much cuter is a recent Cesar dog food-- excuse me, "canine cuisine"-- commercial featuring an instrumental version of the Magnetic Fields' 11th Love Song (out of 69), "I Think I Need a New Heart". Cute if you like toy dogs that fit in your designer handbag and bouncing Pomeranians. Check it out by tapping "click to play" here.

Folks seem pretty upset about this one, but it's certainly not the first time a Magnetic Fields tune has found its way into some other realm of media. Said Fields manager/bandmember Claudia Gonson in a statement to Pitchfork, "Neither [Stephin Merritt nor I] felt it was a particularly troubling use of the song. The band has placed many different songs into ads over the years, although this one appears to be more widely viewed."