Despite being beset by massive unemployment and home foreclosures, residents of Grand Rapids, Michigan aren't happy being on the Mainstreet.com list of dying cities.
So they did something about it.
5,000 of them decided to get in the news for something else; they set out to break the world record for largest lip sync ever, to Don McLean's sombre "American Pie." And so they did, as you can see below.
"We felt Don McLean's 'American Pie,' a song about death, was in the end, triumphant and filled to the brim with life and hope," said producer Rob Bliss, who helped raise the $40,000 needed to make the 9-minute mini-film, to create what Roger Ebert calls "the greatest music video ever."
Nerf battles, pillow fights, sparklers, this has it all. And they don't look all that unhappy to me. Instead, it looks like a pretty nice place to live. People need to care about their future and not just hope someone bails them out. And Grand Rapids, Michigan cares.
For its part, MainStreet.com says "It's a remarkable video that truly shows off the sense of community and pride of Grand Rapids residents and we at MainStreet were genuinely moved by it."
Yep, who wouldn't be?
