Pardon Me?

by Robert Popper on January 20, 2010 · 152 comments

I am so excited. I mean, really, really excited. I’ve been looking for this video for years and have only just found it. I guarantee you will have NEVER seen a video as brilliant (awful) as this. And you will NEVER get this tune out of your head. EVER.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present Maxine Swaby with ‘Pardon Me’…

Come on then peeps – which bits do you like?

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  • Minty76

    The close up of the eyes….

  • Anonymous

    Godammit Robert, I was just going out for a swim. I’ll be here for hours now watching that.

    I like the:

    running away from swans,
    Tulips waving in the breeze,
    staring out the window at a burgundy saloon,
    the random appearance of deer,
    quick nod to religion

    oh all of it

  • Bunkum

    Brilliant music production. Did she record her vocals down the phone line? She also hits the high notes in the “I just want you to know” line extremely accurately.

    I’m confused by her taking a train and a flight though as she has no luggage with her. Is she an air stewardess and was just going to work? That would probably explain the uniform, but not the relevance to the lyrics.

    My favourite bit has to be around 2’25″ where she appears to be chasing swans out of her local park by running at them. Or perhaps she was herding them into the church that it cuts to next.

  • Anonymous

    The zoom in on the eyes. The emotionless face throughout. The staring at the photo. The catchy dance moves. The leaning against the tree… Everything. I am in stitches.

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  • Jo

    I rather appreciate the incorrect note in the accompaniment as it plays the final three chords. The thought of an entire church congregation singing ‘pardon me,’ amuses me greatly. O yes, the complex interpretative dance is also delightful. Where did you find this? Why??

  • http://twitter.com/danielrosewarne Daniel Rosewarne

    So, let me see if I’ve got this right. She’s an apologising airline pilot, that lives in her parent’s house, likes country walks, swans and trains?

    It’s great that it’s made by “Brightface Media” and she has a bright orange face.

  • http://twitter.com/josephcorcoran Joe Corcoran

    Christ. Inept drum fill at around 1:01 is my favourite bit so far…

  • http://twitter.com/BEFLIX X1 (beta)

    Metal hair. Trains. Planes. Rivers. Nails (long). Airline uniform. Ornaments. Pictures (of loved ones). A tree. Cuddly toy. Clouds. Flowers. Living room. Scary eyes. Living room ceiling (fake beams). Bontempi? Hand gestures. Church. God/Tarvu. One slightly flat note. Good.

  • http://twitter.com/linopolis Lino

    Oh… My… Who IS she looking at in that picture? I’d like to think it’s me.. No Maxine, don’t look back.. If our love is true you’ll come back to me.. You’ll come back.

  • Salty Pepper

    AMAZING! Utterly amazing. Creates the kind of atmosphere only experienced when watching an odd programme/film in the dark of your bedroom while Mum and Dad are out and you’re hovering over the standby button in case they spot the TV light flickering above the curtain when they drive back down the road. I am 28 – this is just a memory.

    I think BRIGHTFACEMEDIA@hotmail.com should make a video of you playing guitar. Perhaps an instrumental version of Pardon Me, note for confusing note.

    Pardon Glee

  • Jason Hewitt.

    funniest thing ever. and not just on the internet. outstanding.

  • Sara

    Tim and Eric have it down to a T.
    I like how polite it is. Also, the hair. And the goats. And the costumes. Actually, everything.

  • jon

    I’ll never get those minutes back!

  • madeline

    0:47 that’s one hell of a close up.

  • Anonymous

    At 2:01 when it dissolves to a shot of her holding a picture frame, but cuts off just before you can clearly see what it is.

  • jd

    it looks like a particularly badly-filmed and edited report on “Meridian Tonight”

  • Gwilli81

    PMSL!!! Her voice cuts through glass.

  • http://twitter.com/SamuelERobinson Samuel Robinson

    Soap on a rope! That’s ridiculous… and yet horribly catchy. You, sir, have created a monster.

  • http://kevindowling.ie/ Kevin

    Those were some sweet dance moves in the park. Beyonce? Who needs her…

  • Liam Turner

    I like the airpilot-esque uniform.The music I had to turn down

  • Megan

    She makes me think of Anna Nicole Smith.
    I’m gonna go find some real music and see if I can fix the damage you have wrought.

  • Anonymous

    Has to be the pilot’s uniform, hanging round a train station?!

  • Anonymous

    I like that the colour is wrong in a different way in every single shot. That takes effort.

  • Anonymous

    Well, the shot of the deer is hard to beat. Also of course that this song has been “sang”. Priceless.

  • http://twitter.com/RichardCook2 Richard Cook

    Best bits:
    1. Terrifying close-up of eyes at 0:46
    2. Constant use of aircraft imagery throughout (a METAHPOR perhaps?)
    3. Shortest keyboard solo ever at 1:43
    4. Walking around public spaces including an outdoor park and churchyard
    5. Actually walking THROUGH the lake at 2:40

    Why was the British radio not all over this back in 2001? Maxine Swaby (!) robbed yet again.

  • http://www.martinstirling.com/ Martin Stirling

    0:48 Jumbo Jet Cutaway.
    1:00 Nice transition up to the point where she touches her nipples.
    2:08 “All the single ladies…”
    2:14 Powerful.
    2:54 Dark.

  • http://twitter.com/doodlewhale Stuart Rutherford

    Holy crap! I really liked the bit at 3:51

  • Will Stafford

    It is the pinnacle of human achievement.

  • Clinton

    2.18 when she is try to walk like she isn’t drunk.

  • Anonymous

    is that Watford junction??? would explain its dredfulness!!! (yes born and bred in Watford and yes I left)!!!

  • Omar

    Wow. The nautical suit? John Shuttleworth supporting on keyboard? The fact that the vocals seems to being replayed through an earphone speaker? I think it’s the shot at the end of her staring poignantly at the Ford Focus parked outside her house.

  • Abel King

    I think its easy to take pot shots at other peoples artistic endeavours. Maxine Swaby has obviously worked hard on this project and she deserves our respect for turning up and giving it a go. Which is more than can be said for some so called ‘individuals’.

  • Sean Vrabel

    Besides the big face in the picture frame on the mantle place, I LOVE her silver metal hair helmet.

  • mikecarey

    The best bit is obviously the bizarre eyes close-up at 0:47!

  • Anonymous

    What is wrong with her head? and her fingernails?! I can’t pardon that. Really.. can’t pardon her fashion sense either. Why is there a random shot of Zebras towards the end!? This is too weird.

    I like that the brightface media company just has a hotmail account.

  • KSaebin

    Thank you so much, the song is stuck in my head now. :)

    Best part is when she goes “I see you” “when you fall” “standing tall” etc etc
    LOL.

  • http://robertpopper.com Robert Popper

    Hi yes those guys are great. You'll find them on my blog somewhere too. They rock!

  • http://robertpopper.com Robert Popper

    You're right. She does sound like me (aka RC)!

  • http://robertpopper.com Robert Popper

    Yeah I know what you mean…

  • http://www.theprimamomma.com/ Kristy

    Did anyone else notice that she donned the uniform of an eighteenth century English soldier at the end of the video? She's a loyalist! This is a beautiful love song about a soldier going off to war.

  • http://twitter.com/JudithBeast Judith Zenteno

    THIS IS THE BEST SONG EVAR!!! <3

  • starsparkle

    Best bit was when the door shut at the end,hahaha. Seriously though, I am gonna watch this again, so bad it's good!!!!!!!!

  • kristinkj

    I liked the beginning, before she started “singing”.

  • http://twitter.com/tomdaylight tomdaylight

    She is dressed and gesturing as though she’s a flight stewardess – but then why is all the footage of trains, fields and someone’s living room?

  • http://www.chaseroper.com Chase Roper

    wow. just wow.

  • Dave

    I started to facebook this and decided I would spare my friends! just wow.

  • http://www.justinsreality.com/ Justin Hayden

    I loved this cover of Incubus’ “Pardon Me” off of 1999′s “Make Yourself.”

  • http://twitter.com/bodotdot bodotdot

    The music sounds like someone cranking the handle of a jack-in-the-box. I keep waiting for a plastic clown to pop out of my monitor.

  • http://www.myspace.com/strangethatwaytoo alan

    i reckon a RATM style campaign for next years xmas no.1 would be quality!

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