Bahamas – Stronger Than That
2014 · Directed by Nick Walker
2.9K Likes
Best comments
1.“'For millennia, audiences have been completely dazzled and captivated by these larger-than-life characters, their pronounced packages, and their superhuman feats of strength.' LMFAO.”
More comments
- 2.“Is it just me, or does that one man look like Danny DeVito on steroids?”
- 3.“Shooting this video was one of the most fun shoots I've done, except for the hundred-degree heat! Afie is a really sweet guy and a real trooper in some of the shots the director asked him to do – that bucket of water was ice cold!”
The story
Bahamas is the stage name of Afie Jurvanen, a self-taught Canadian guitarist raised in Barrie, Ontario, who worked with Feist, Jack Johnson and The Lumineers before his own folk records took off. Stronger Than That sits on his third album, Bahamas Is Afie, which came out in August 2014.
For the video, director Nick Walker took the title literally and then some. It's a fake behind-the-scenes look at a strongman competition: tire flips, keg tosses, boulder carries and truck pulls. Afie plays the TV interviewer in a dorky polo shirt, calmly asking enormous men about their tender sides. Bodybuilder Omar Deckard, former wrestler Ed Ferrara and actor Cazzey Cereghino all show up. And yes, there's a surprise ending.
The gag fits the song, a soft-spoken take on what strength really means. It worked on the people who hand out trophies too. Bahamas Is Afie won the Juno for Adult Alternative Album of the Year, Stronger Than That was one of three songs that won Jurvanen Songwriter of the Year at the 2015 Junos, and the single went gold in Canada. Big feelings, bigger biceps.
