Filmmaker Paul Burke and sculptor Steve Shaheen originally met in Boston during the mid-90s. It wasn’t until the pandemic they reconnected as songwriters to create Toy City. Surviving the Golden Age is excited to premiere their new music video for “Margherita Regina.”
“The song is based on my attempt to get the birth record of my grandmother” said Paul Burke. With lyrics like opening line “send a notarized copy of the record in your book,” the song illustrates the story fairly well already. The video is a bit more abstract.
Shot through a fisheye lens, the video juxtaposes shots of Burke singing while walking along a rocky shore with home movies and stock footage of nuns. Burke explains “At the time of (my grandmother’s) passing, my own mother was still a Catholic nun. It was only later that she broke her vows, married my father, and had a family.” Those additional layers that you may not get from the lyrics of the song are perfectly brought to life in the haunting video.
