WATCH: Pussy Riot – “I Can’t Breathe”

February 19th, 2015

Mark Garza

In the music video for their first English-language song, political punk band Pussy Riot are buried alive in Russia’s OMON riot police uniforms.

The song, titled “I Can’t Breathe,” after the last words spoken by Eric Garner before his murder, is dedicated to “Eric and for all those from Russia to America and around the globe who suffer from state terror – killed, choked, perished because of war and state sponsored violence of all kinds – for political prisoners and those on the streets fighting for change.” “I Can’t Breathe” features Richard Hell reciting Garner’s last words at the end, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) on piano and bass, and Andrew Wyatt (Miike Snow) credited under bit.

In their Pitchfork interview, the band elaborated on the purpose behind “I Can’t Breathe”:

We are convinced that right now we need to identify other countries as examples of how we can realistically implement our ideals in Russia, which one day will become more open and free. So we are prepared to suffer through problems in other countries as if they were our own. That’s why we joined the protests in New York and wrote “I Can’t Breathe.” It truly was inspired by what happened in the U.S., but it has an attitude forged in the Russia we are living in today, in which we are trying so desperately to do something useful.

The video, recorded in Moscow, can be seen below.