[Video] Hop Along - Powerful Man

'Powerful Man' is taken from Philly pop punk band Hop Along's new album, 'Painted Shut', which came out yesterday.

The animated video was painted, printed, and animated by the band's frontwoman Frances Quinlan with Cat Park, and Craig Scheihing.

'Painted Shut' takes pop sensibilities, with a bouncy beat and Quinlan’s vocal presides over a sweet melody, but the lyrics are dark and weighty, telling of a parent hitting their child: "Your dad told you not to look at me/ Down came the fists hard upon your head."

Says Quinlan: “Once I saw a boy getting beaten up by his father, in daylight in front of a school. My friend was with me, the father saw us both and kept right on hitting him, totally unaffected by our presence. I was 18 and immediately afraid of this man; I didn’t confront him. I can’t imagine what it must be like for a little boy, watching someone walk away as his father punches him about the head. I witnessed a frightening part of myself that day: in a time of crisis I was not there for a child, I froze up. That little boy is probably close to 20 now, maybe a little younger.”