See Iggy Pop Celebrate Love Paris-Style in Surreal Animated Video
An animated Iggy Pop dances with an anthropomorphic rose on a bridge over the Seine in a new clip for the punk hero’s 2012 cover of Edith Piaf’s signature song, “La Vie En Rose.”
The short was directed by Laurent Mercier and captures the disparate worlds of music and culture that came together when Pop recorded the track for his 2012 album, Aprés. Smoothing his growl into a tender, husky croon, Pop delivers a resonant performance in Piaf’s native French, while a lone trumpet recalls Louis Armstrong’s rendition of the famous track.
In the mostly black-and-white clip, Pop and the rose twirl across the bridge, but when a wind threatens to separate them, a bird reunites them and their world fills with color.
“The worlds of Iggy Pop and Edith Piaf are the opposite,” Mercier tells Rolling Stone. “We used the metaphor of the bridge in Paris called Pont des Arts to visually gather those two legends.”
While Aprés primarily comprised covers of French standards, the album also featured renditions of Cole Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love,” Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin'” (made famous by Harry Nilsson) and the Beatles’ “Michelle.” Earlier this year, Pop followed up Aprés with Post Pop Depression, which was made with Josh Homme.