Punk rockers Rise Against have raised the bar for musicvideos with their latest, "Help Is On The Way," the first single from their newalbum, "Endgame."
The band used arguably one of the most poignant recent tragediesto depict the impact of being left behind. "Our film crew went to New Orleans and filmedwhat became a dramatic and compelling narrative of Hurricane Katrina throughthe eyes of a family," the band said in a statement on its website.
The video portrays a family trapped in their home afterHurricane Katrina. It begins with water pouring into their living room, andcaptures the father, son, and daughter scrambling to climb into the attic asthe mother collects food and photographs. When the water reaches the attic, thefather knocks a hole into the ceiling, allowing them to escape to the roof.From there they fight off a snake, save another family drifting by on amattress, and unsuccessful try to get the attention of a helicopter flyingoverhead.
The video is chilling, though convincing at forcing viewersto consider how the Hurricane Katrina victims must have felt. It brought tolife the song's message of the impact of a broken promise to send aide. Bandfrontman and guitarist Tim McIlrath was inspired to write the song aftervisiting New Orleansand seeing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. They should make a long form of the video available so it could be submitted for Grammy consideration.
The video is released as Japan recovers from a recentearthquake and tsunami. Rise Against closes the video with a message asking fansto help. The activismsection of their website provides links to efforts supporting Japan, New Orleans and the Gulf.
Follow Me: 
Follow Yahoo! Music: