Taylor Swift, Sugarland Take on ’60s-Inspired Roles in ‘Babe’ Music Video
It's here, and it's gloriously dramatic: Sugarland and Taylor Swift released the music video for their new collaboration, "Babe," on Saturday (June 9) after teasing a clip of the treatment earlier in the week. Readers can press play above to watch the whole saga go down.
Shot on the Los Angeles set where the television show Mad Men was filmed, the music video takes its cues from the hit series, from its glamorous '60s outfits to its lascivious side-eyes and marital infidelities. Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles plays the part of the perfect housewife, kissing her husband (played by actor Brandon Routh) goodbye as he leaves their lavish mansion for work. However, all is not as it seems for the couple: The husband is having an affair with a young typist at work, played by a red-haired and smolderingly vindictive Swift.
Things go wrong for the man when his wife catches him in the act after surprising him at his office and, while we won't ruin the ending, both Nettles and Swift inhabit their roles with cinematic prowess and a generous helping of high drama. Kristian Bush, the other half of the country duo, also makes appearances as several different characters in the video, as a man walking his dog, a talking head on a television and more.
Nettles tells People that the concept for the video was originally Swift's idea: "She actually reached out to us and said, 'I've got a great idea for a video,' and she wrote the treatment," Nettles explains.
Swift co-wrote "Babe" with Train's Pat Monahan, and offered the song to Sugarland when she heard that they were planning to return with new music after a five-year hiatus. The song is included on Sugarland's newest album, Bigger, which was released on June 8.
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