Clean Bandit, the Grammy-winning British electronic music group, takes a tragic view of Donald Trump in a music video that was released Monday for their single “Mama,” which features Ellie Goulding on vocals. Goulding is not seen, but ringers for Donald Trump and his wife Melania are, as the video makes a statement about power, control and the repercussions of mistreating children… lest they grow up to become a very unhappy president.
“We wrote this script about a boy whose power was taken away from him as a child and he grew up determined to take that power back,” said band member Grace Chatto, who directed the video along with her bandmates Jack and Luke Patterson.
The video, which features a cameo by British actor Neil Morrissey, tells the story of a Trump-esque character. Following him as he grows up, he first appears as a young boy in a school uniform being humiliated by figures of authority. Pushed into a pool by a father figure and then chastised by a teacher in front of the whole class, the boy appears embarrassed and emasculated. Next he’s shown as a teenager training for the army before being placed behind a desk in front of an American flag. Finally, he’s shown as an adult in full Trump garb, watching the election results come in on TV while eating fast food, which he later throws up.
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As the reality of his situation sets in, he is shown sweating and calling his mother while mouthing the lyrics “Oh mama, what do I do now?”
The final frames of the video show the Trump character slow dancing with a woman dressed to resemble Melania Trump. As the frame widens, it’s revealed that the two are dancing inside a circle of words that read: “Damaging Our Children Can Damage The Entire World.”
“Mama” is taken from Clean Bandit’s second studio album “What Is Love?” from Big Beat Records, which also features Rita Ora on a track as well as other singles including “Rockabye” featuring Anne-Marie and Sean Paul, “Solo” featuring Demi Lovato, “Symphony” featuring Zara Larsson and “I Miss You” featuring Julia Michaels.
Clean Bandit won the dance recording Grammy in 2015 for their song “Rather Be.”