Tiny Docs Run Amok

I didn’t have the phrase “tiny doc” in my head until I saw a presentation by my friend Sara Quinn a year or two back. These are the videos you see all over Facebook with text overlaid on them.

The reasoning is obvious – 85% of Facebook videos are played without sound. Which makes sense, how many people a day do you see out in public scrolling through their social media feeds as they kill time? Sure, some have headphones plugged in, but not many – there are still some social norms being respected.

Sitting out on the back porch this morning, I was poking around looking to see if Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit had produced any videos to go with their new album, The Nashville Sound. (Great record, highly recommended.)

They have, for Hope the High Road.

And it is, effectively, a tiny doc – they put the lyrics on top of the visuals.

Which … well … why would you play a music video without sound?

It’s not like Isbell’s voice is cloudy, his delivery is crisp and heartfelt and, you know, sort of the point of a music video.

But I ain’t fighting with you down in the ditch.
I’ll fight with you up here on the road.

You can have your tiny docs, but not in a music video, okay? I’m listening, up here on the road.