Watch: This poignant music video follows the dark, harrowing journey of a child bride
‘The man with the black hat will take me home tonight.’
American musical group CocoRosie’s song Child Bride from their album Tales of a GrassWidow is a harrowing tale of a tradition that persists across the world. Emma Freeman’s video (above) of the song stitches together haunting visuals that makes for very uncomfortable watching.
Bianca “Coco” Casady’s dreamy, child-like vocals wash over visuals of a precocious girl with piercing eyes, brilliantly portrayed by Imogen Verrocchi, being prepped for her wedding to a much older man. “It’s hard to tell, this is my wedding night,” she lip-syncs, as her mother, who is also visibly younger than her father, regretfully readies her. She drapes a scarlet cloak over her for the wedding ceremony.
“I am dressed and ready,” she sings, “Besides my innocence it is hard to tell whose little girl am I. The man with the black hat will take me home tonight.”