On August 1, Pennywise member Jim Lindberg shared a new animated music video for his song “Don’t Lay Me Down” off his debut acoustic solo album Songs From The Elkhorn Trail. The song is a stark contrast to the punk rock music he made in the band Pennywise. 

“Don’t Lay Me Down” is an acoustic telling of the story of Lindberg’s father, who passed away in 2018, and his battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

The music video opens with an animated Lindberg playing guitar and singing before transitioning to a night sky with images of a father and son having some beautiful moments, like a father gifting a son his first guitar. The chorus starts with “Don’t lay me down, don’t fall asleep” with visuals of crying eyes, referring to Lindberg’s father and his slow passing. The second verse opens with “Found the letters in your sister’s old suitcase” and is met with the visual of several letters floating out of an open suitcase as a car drives past, referring to letters Lindberg found from his late father. The chorus shows the same visuals and lyrics as before. The bridge opens with “Drove to the desert house to say my last goodbye/I ran every light didn’t make it there in time” and shows an animated Lindberg driving a pickup truck, running several red lights. The video then transitions into the night sky again, showing wholesome visuals of father and son again with the final lyric “A toast to those who gave us life” before going back to the chorus one final time. 

The visuals are very aesthetically pleasing and match the acoustic sound and feel of the song quite well. Lindberg himself says “I think Rob [Fidel]’s animation perfectly captures that sad twilight time between life and death and the bittersweet exchange that happens between family members when loved ones pass away.” The song and video are a beautiful dedication to Lindberg’s late father.

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