The Raveonettes - "Boys Who Rape" (New Video Premiere)

Emerging from an extended holiday slumber, Raveonettes frontman Sune Rose Wagner has created a visually-charged video for In And Out Of Control’s most controversial track, “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed).” Put together in his New York apartment, the clip is a sober take on a grave issue, featuring archival images of both victims and perpetrators. Like the song itself, which relies on sugar-sweet harmonies and a ba-ba-ba outro, the video closes by finding hope amidst despair. Considering the sensitive subject matter, Wagner has offered up a heartfelt letter detailing both the song’s origin and the impetus for the video. The message is included in full below.

“I penned this song in the later stages of recording “In And Out Of Control”. At the time I wanted to add an up-tempo song to the album but had no idea what I was getting myself into. The words started pouring and suddenly I realized I was writing about something very important and close to me. An anger stored in me for as long as I can remember. An anger triggered in me by personally witnessing the effect of rape on various individuals and the cowardice of the perpetrators. The immense hatred for someone savagely robbing another girl’s innocence. The disgust for someone brutally forcing a girl to succumb to horrendous acts of violence and sexual humiliation, scarring her for life.

The video was done in the same fashion as the songwriting. Quick and spontaneous. Anger and frustration was cast upon the images and thrown together in a disorderly fashion mimicking the violent behavior of rapists. The song is also a celebration of life and the fact that life does move on even after tragic events such as these. I chose to incorporate several "happy" moments, such as the best guitar solo ever, into the video to leave a sense of hope amidst all this tremendous despair.