Chuck Prophet – “The Left Hand and the Right Hand” (video)

The video for Chuck Prophet’s “The Left Hand and the Right Hand” is weirdly surreal by taking the song literally, with two separate disembodied hands floating around to illustrate the story. Chuck Prophet appears in a cartoon bubble as an all-seeing narrator in an alternative universe. It’s kind of trippy and fun.

The song is inspired by Jim and Artie Mitchell, pioneers of the strip club and pornography, but there also seem to be elements of other famous brothers in the song: the Everly Brothers, the Gallagher brothers of Oasis, those other Mitchell’s from the east end of London, and possibly even a soul brother: Prophet’s co-writer, poet Klipschutz.

Catchy and upbeat with unmissable hand-claps, this track is a stand-out from Prophet’s excellent 2012 album Temple Beautiful, which focuses on San Francisco. At the time of the album’s release, Carl Schonbeck wrote in his 7 out of 10 review for PopMatters: “Chuck has made us a fun, tuneful rock ‘n’ roll record that’s both straight from the gut and as wonderfully curved as the city which inspired it.”