UTG PREMIERE: Raggy Monster – “Crying Shame” (Music Video)

Another day, another killer exclusive from a promising, up-and-coming artist.

Raggy Monster may not be a band on your radar just yet, but they should be. Hailing from West Palm Beach, FL, this five-piece have been making a name for themselves since 2011 with an irresistible take on modern indie rock that you won’t soon forget. We believe the band is destined for great things, and today we have the honor of sharing their latest music video with the world at large.

“Crying Shame” is a single that has a special meaning to the members of Raggy Monster. The track was inspired by keyboardist Billy Schmidt’s great uncle, who suffered from multiple strokes and lost control of most of his body. When Billy told fellow member Rachel DuVall the story of how his uncle’s condition weighed on him, she put the story to lyrics as a tribute to the family. The results are both beautiful and haunting, just like the rest of the band’s wonderfully compelling catalog.

We asked Schmidt if he would tell us a bit more about the song, and this is what he sent us:

“‘Crying Shame’ was inspired by my great uncle, John Franzeese. When I was very young he had multiple strokes that left him confined to a wheelchair with almost no physical control of his body. It wasn’t until years later that we discovered he retained most of his mental capacity, and was essentially stuck in a body that wouldn’t work, with a brain that still did. This always weighed heavily on my heart, and when I told Rachel the story she put it to lyrics beautifully and we combined them with an instrumental composition I wrote years before called ‘Crying Shame.’

Lines like ‘push the plastic to its place, stare into a desperate face’ refer to the times we communicated with him with a plastic sheet with the alphabet and other common phrases printed on it. It would take him 10 minutes to complete a sentence sometimes, but it was incredibly clear how conscious he was of everything around him. The most heartbreaking moments were when his brain seemed to be rapidly switching emotions from joy to sadness, usually resulting from interactions with children. It was truly a crying shame, and remains a distinct memory of my early childhood. We can only hope that he enjoys this song now and knows how much he influenced everyone around him.”

You can view the video for “Crying Shame” below. For more on Raggy Monster, make sure you follow the band on Facebook.

James Shotwell
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2 Responses to “UTG PREMIERE: Raggy Monster – “Crying Shame” (Music Video)”

  1. Christoph Camp says:

    Great Song and a great Band!!!!

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