Nathaniel Rateliff – And It's Still Alright
2020 · Directed by Rett Rogers
48K Likes
Best comments
1.“This is a Folgers-in-your-cup-while-you're-staring-out-from-your-back-porch-in-the-morning kind of song. I love it.”
More comments
- 2.“This song is great for breaking up that stuck emotion. Can't listen to it when I drive, though – gotta be able to see the road.”
- 3.“34 days clean today, and this song speaks so loudly to the journey to get here. The road ahead seems impossibly long, and the road behind is paved with regret and embarrassment... but I'm hoping I can make some of it right.”
The story
Nathaniel Rateliff had a rough stretch. His marriage ended, and in July 2018 he lost Richard Swift, his close friend and the producer behind both Night Sweats albums. The record he'd been writing about a failing relationship turned into something else. He went back to Swift's own studio in Cottage Grove, Oregon, to make it, and this title track was written about Swift. Rateliff called the album a reminder that we all go through hardship.
Director Rett Rogers made the video the slow, handmade way. It was shot on 16mm, Kodak Tri-X and Double X stock, the film was processed by hand, and Rogers hand-painted it, with dancer Bailey Harper on screen. Grief doesn't come in HD, and neither does this.
The album came out on Valentine's Day 2020 on Stax, the old Memphis soul label, and reached number 5 on the US rock albums chart. A breakup record, a eulogy and a shrug that says you keep going anyway.
