Vampire Weekend Hit the Court With RZA, Jonas and Gyllenhaal for "Giving Up the Gun"

"We Are the World 25" may have set a record for most celebrities in a single music video, but Vampire Weekend still give it the ol' Ivy League try with their new clip for Contra's "Giving Up the Gun." Wu-Tang's RZA, Jake Gyllenhaal, Lil Jon and Jonas Brother Joe all make cameos in the "Gun" video, which premiered today on Spinner. Directed by the Malloys, "Giving Up the Gun" finds Vampire Weekend soundtracking a tennis tournament staged in what appears to be the skeleton from Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" set.

VW friend Jenny Murray plays the tennis pro who faces off against the likes of blonde-haired twins, a samurai, two guys who might be Daft Punk, Joe Jonas and a boozing, short shorts-wearing Gyllenhaal. RZA naturally presides over the games as the line judge, while Lil Jon pops up toward the end to offer up a French-subtitled pep talk to Murray when the redhead is forced to play her doppelganger in the finals. We won't ruin the ending for you, but Murray wins.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, VW's Contra debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200, so it's no surprise that all the celebs involved would want to get some face time in their latest video. Give these kids a couple years and they'll be ready to steal the red carpet record back from "We Are the World 25."

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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