{"id":808176,"date":"2020-06-08T10:07:40","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T16:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=1011480"},"modified":"2020-06-08T10:07:40","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T16:07:40","slug":"rufus-wainwright-drops-vintage-you-aint-big-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/rufus-wainwright-drops-vintage-you-aint-big-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Rufus Wainwright Drops Vintage \u2018You Ain\u2019t Big\u2019 Video"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rufus Wainwright<\/a> released the video for the charming, folksy \u201cYou Ain\u2019t Big,\u201d the latest single off his upcoming album Unfollow the Rules<\/em>, slated for July 10th.<\/p>\n

The clip opens in the style of an old film, complete with a scene in an editorial office as a man discusses how he overcame his anger: \u201cHow would you feel if you were me?\u201d he says. \u201cYou needed to get back to the grassroots, get a little closer to people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The video features vintage postcards of heartland cities in the United States. Shots of white Americans contrast against clips of black protesters, as Wainwright sings, \u201cYou ain\u2019t big if you\u2019re little in Texas\/Don\u2019t know who you are unless you\u2019re made it in Lawrence, Kansas\/Wait a minute Lawrence, Kansas\/Doesn\u2019t really matter at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, Wainwright commented on the initial meaning of the track and how it\u2019s transformed in the wake of recent worldwide protests over the death of George Floyd. \u201cI originally wrote the song \u2018You Ain\u2019t Big\u2019 about the strange fact that in the music business worldwide until recently (our estimation has fallen considerably), no matter how well you\u2019ve done anywhere else, if you couldn\u2019t make it in the heartland of the U.S., you weren\u2019t really considered a true star,\u201d he said. \u201cThink Little Richard, Elvis, the Beatles and Julio Iglesias.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, in releasing this song now which references states such as Alabama, North Carolina, Kansas (where I have had the pleasure of playing shows) and even New York and California, all troubled places during this tremendously turbulent time nationwide, the term \u2018You Ain\u2019t Big\u2019 has taken on additional meanings,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe song at heart is apolitical. Its vintage sound harkens back to the classical American country music sound of the Forties and Fifties and with the help of opposing images in the video of how different life was for white people compared to black people in the Fifties, as it has sadly remained, I think it rings appropriate for this time and professes a certain truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou Ain\u2019t Big\u201d follows the singles \u201cAlone Time<\/a>,\u201d Trouble in Paradise<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cDamsel in Distress.\u201d<\/a> In addition to \u201cYou Ain\u2019t Big,\u201d Wainwright also released Rufus Wainwright: Unmaking Unfollow the Rules<\/em> on his YouTube channel. Directed by Jeff Richter, the film chronicles the making of the record and features Jim Keltner, Mitchell Froom, David Boucher, Petra Haden, Blake Mills and more.<\/p>\n