Will Young has released a video for his track ‘Brave Man’. The video features a trans guy who finishes a drink at the pub then strips off and walks the streets of Brighton.
The young guy encounters people on the street and it’s not until the end of the video that his trans status is revealed when he pulls out an old Polaroid presumably of him before his transition.
The track is from Will Young’s sixth album ‘85% Proof’ which was released earlier this year. The song was written by Will Young and his producers Jim Eliot and Mima Stilwell.
Stilwell and Eliot are members of theband Kish Mauve, in 2007 Kylie Minogue covered their song ‘2 Hearts’ for her comeback album. The pair have produced songs for Minogue, Ellie Goulding, Olly Murs, Girls Aloud and Little Boots.
Check out the video (maybe NSFW, depends where you work)
Here’s what Will has to say about the video
I had been following a very different idea for the video to Brave Man. When this didn’t come to fruition I went back to the drawing board and wondered to myself what it is to be a ‘brave man’.
It came to me.
It seems extremely brave to be a man in a woman’s body and then decide to do something about this.
As I thought more about it, I realised that there is often coverage of what it is to be a woman in a man’s body, but never to my knowledge the documenting of the opposite (almost a perverted kind of patriarchy).
So the video came about.
My next move was to go to Wiz who I have now worked with four times on music films. I say film because the way Wiz shoots creates something that always seems like a film, as opposed to a video. Something with a narrative that leaves me thinking about what I have just viewed.
Wiz had been thinking about doing a film about a transgender man and so the world aligned, as it often does, when something feels right and we made the video.
Wiz already knew Fox, a transgender man, and through casting we found Finn. The vulnerability, strength and intelligence he has is so abundant on camera. Really, I have not met someone like him before. Someone who has an inherent strength and a determination whilst also holding such vulnerability.
To be vulnerable IS to be strong.
To express and show this is actually the bravest and most wonderful thing to do.
I know that transgender people do not like being called brave. It is something that is innate. Not a choice, but a given. Being a gay man I feel the same. I wasn’t ‘brave’ to come out it was simply what I had to do.
I am used to prejudice though. Through tough times embracing myself as someone ‘different’ allowed me to embrace all differences in others, to embrace their vulnerability and their struggles as well as their inner strength and determination to be their true authentic selves. When I wrote the song, this is what I was referring to – the determination in modern life to be my authentic self.
In this video we see a man determined to be himself in the face of all adversity from inside and outside. It isn’t brave but, my god, it shows true grit and strength. What a wonderful thing. This video isn’t about selling records or my personal benefit. This video is about taking a moment in time to explore a section of society who stand up for themselves. To tell a story and offer a window through music into someone’s life.
No one but Wiz could have done it in such a non-sensationalist and honest way.
I’ve never felt so humbled and proud.
Wow