TUPELO

Nick Cave recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the release of his iconic song “Tupelo,” accompanied by a new AI-generated video.

I disliked the video. My disappointment wasn’t solely in the use of AI — I believe there are valid uses for the technology as a tool to maximize efficiencies.

But the video felt ramshackle and disjointed, like a PowerPoint presentation at a low-budget funeral.

With its slick, floating Elvis, whose face was sometimes distorted, it robbed the song of its urgency — the quaking emergence of a primal force bringing a reckoning to the world.

However, in The Red Hand Files, Nick writes that he found the piece touching.

“To our surprise, we found it to be an extraordinarily profound interpretation of the song — a soulful, moving, and entirely original retelling of ‘Tupelo’, rich in mythos and a touching tribute to the great Elvis Presley, as well as to the song itself.”

While I disagree with Nick’s interpretation of the video, I respect his open-mindedness, flexibility, and even somewhat questionable taste in this matter. In some ways, it makes me like him more.

Because artists — even those of extraordinary caliber — aren’t infallible. Their art can soar to the most incredible heights, bringing you with them, yet there’s often a disconnect, a song you skip, a book you don’t like, an opinion that makes you recoil.

Thankfully, both can exist at once.

As for the use of AI, here’s my take. AI is like a sociopath — it’s excellent at analyzing, summarizing, and mimicking. It can “pass.” However, it eventually betrays its hollowness.

For me, as a writer, I don’t fully know what I’m going to say until I thoroughly engage with the piece. It’s through daydreaming and critical thinking, along with the physical act of writing, that the words arrive.

While this process is often accompanied by tension and frustration, a euphoria arises during the creation.  It’s a feeling of being fully alive — and I would never give that experience away to a bot.

For better or worse, the words on this page are entirely mine.

As for “Tupelo’s” AI bells and whistles that “resurrect” Elvis, I’d rather see what happens when artists are given money to make a video, spend it all on drugs and booze, but still have to deliver.

It may look something like this.