If ever there was a band with a story as layered as their music, it’s Giant Killers. For their much-loved song ‘One for Georgie’, they’ve crafted a video that feels like flipping through a scrapbook of missed chances, footballing icons, and indie dreams interrupted and finally resumed.
The visual treatment for ‘One for Georgie’ walks a fine line between memory and celebration. Shot in part at their triumphant return to the Shiiine On festival main stage, the video juxtaposes their current live performance with grainy, VHS-tinged footage of the band in their early 90s heyday. The time-lapse effect is more than just a nostalgic trick. Here’s a group who were supposed to break big decades ago but got caught in the machinery of a label fallout. Yet here they are, looking and sounding as vital as ever.
The real emotional punch, however, comes with the inclusion of George Best. Not in the literal sense- though there is archive footage woven throughout- but in spirit. It’s not so much a straight homage to the late footballer as it is a meditation on glory, and how quickly it can fade when the spotlight goes cold. There’s a cheeky wink in the nod to a long-forgotten promise of a video cameo and a pub night with Best and Noddy Holder (yes, really), but behind that is the heartbreak of what might’ve been, for both the player and the band.
Musically, ‘One for Georgie’ is pure indie-pop theatre: big brass flourishes, foot-tapping rhythm, and a chorus that sounds like it was made to be belted from festival fields and stadium seats alike. Visually, the band keeps things grounded and raw. There’s no gloss, no high-concept distraction, just the palpable energy of a band who’ve waited thirty years to finish what they started.
Director Mark Barret keeps the edit tight and purposeful, never veering into over-sentimentality. Every shot feels earned, particularly the transition from past to present, watching the youthful optimism of a band on the brink dissolve into the seasoned fire of a band that never gave up. That’s the real story here: resilience.
In an era where music videos often feel like background noise for scrolling thumbs, ‘One for Georgie’ asks you to look, to remember, and to appreciate the path not just of a football hero, but of two musicians who know all too well how closely triumph and collapse can dance together.
Giant Killers look to reclaim their history here. And with ‘One for Georgie’, they do so with grace, grit, and a grin that says: we’re still standing.
