Cass McCombs, "Robin Egg Blue" Video

One of my most listened to tracks from 2011 has been given a video in the form of a collection of images that at first appear to be home movie clips from a recent tropical vacation. But don't be fooled by the serene glimpses of flowers, ocean-views and sliced mangoes. Much like the anti-pastoral movement of the song itself, the video for Cass McCombs' "Robin Egg Blue" -- the fifth track from Humor Risk, McCombs' second LP of 2011 -- quickly evolves into something more ominous. The tropical scenes give way to a series of collages involving, among other things, weird Santa Claus automatons, a pile of what appears to be dog shit, an extended close up of a snake, and finally a tiny rocket blowing up a keyboard. I don't pretend to know what it all means, but it somehow suits the song well, whose breezy strum seems incongruous with a lyrical tale about a paradise lost.