Friday Video #25: Rufus bringing April Fools

Rufus Wainwright - April Fools

Since April Fools Day will be on Sunday, I thought that I'd bring you the video to Rufus Wainwright's "April Fools," which was made in 1998. In it Rufus romps with five tragic opera heroines: Cho-Cho-San from Madame Butterfly, Carmen from Carmen, Mimi from La Boheme, Tosca from Tosca and Gilda from Rigoletto. These women go on to meet their pre-determined deaths, with Rufus coming in too late to save them.

Martha Wainwright, Rufus's sister and sometimes musical collaborator, plays Cho-Cho-San. Melissa Auf Der Maur, the bassist from Hole and Smashing Pumpkins, is Gilda. And watch for Gwen Stefani as a waitress in a dinner where Rufus and the divas go to.

The video was directed by Sophie Muller, who has directed a lot of music videos, including those by the Eurythmics, Hole, Bjork, No Doubt, and Gwen Stefani's solo stuff as well. Sophie found making this video to be a challenge. "The real problem was trying to figure out when and where to kill people," she said in an interview.

"April Fools" is one of my favorite Rufus Wainwright songs, which has a really poppy vibe to it. If there was any justice this song would have topped the pop charts everywhere. You can find this song on his 1998 self-titled debut album Rufus Wainwright.