Added: 4 years ago
From: Pompeyman17
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  • Buying a Golf, it's decided

  • I usually get off work late, so I always get to experience driving home early in the morning (or late at night, depending in how you look at it) and the streets are completely deserted, and I get to drive my little black golf through the sleeping city that surrounds me. It's a great feeling, so I can definitely relate to this commercial.

  • I used to work nightshift...in a 3.8l turbo direct injected 7.5ton gwt Roger Dyson engineered slide and tilt remote Lodar Controlled Hydraulic Actuated recovery truck..this ....yes this ambience i have experienced first hand serving the Police and public alike under contract from night till morning in the hours of the clock where society turns a blind eye..lol..

  • Ok, this is what gets me...

    it seems like a US ad, and even shot in LA and everything, but this generation of Golf was called the Rabbit here. And even if it isn't a US ad, there's still a .com address at the end of it. Is it Canadian or British? Does anyone know?

    Anyway, Volkswagen is just cool stuff all 'round

  • @thetwopointslow It was a British ad made by agency DDB London but it was shot over in the US. Looks like they've pulled the website down which is a shame as it had some other nice footage of LA at night.

  • @Pompeyman17 Ahhh, very cool! That really is too bad, it'd definitely bring a lot more character to everything (more than there is already I suppose).

    Here in the States we've gotten some pretty lousy Jetta ads lately, if I'm honest. Or at least the couple I've seen don't really have much depth to them. They need to resurrect this ad for the mk6 Golf big time!

  • My favourite advert of all time

  • I STILL, still, still want one! :D

  • There's nothing better then putting on what ever music puts you were you want to be, hopping in your GTI and going for a night drive PERIOD.

  • When was the last time you just when for a drive? I do it often.

  • just bought a volkswagen golf and dubbed him Captain Cat :)

    thank you, mr dylan thomas.

  • I've seen it 4 years ago and it still makes me... i don't know, nostalgic?

    Best video on youtube

  • Please don't EVER take this vid off. 90 seconds of perfection.

  • "You can hear the dew falling, and the hushed town breathing. Only your eyes are unclosed to see the black unfolded town fast and slow asleep

    Eat that shakespeare

  • No.2 ad of all time. Personally the Levi's Swimmer ad is my all time fave. Brilliant stuff.

  • @YouMeandFresnoBob taste is subjective, my number one is your number two, your number one is my number too.

    either way. I love this ad, and might I add I love Levi's "Go Forth Braddock, PA" ad for its' Terrence Malick influence. It's basically a homage to his filmmaking aesthetic.

  • Itl`s like driving a VW in Bioshock...

  • Quite possibly the best ad of all time. Beautiful.

  • Awesome ad. I love my Golf!

  • My favorurite ad of all time

  • Simply Perfect..............:)

  • he should create audio books, of him just reading childrens bed time stories.

  • music from modern solaris movie

  • elizabeth taylor was a lucky woman getting to listen to his voice every night

  • sweet jesus, his VOICE

  • @stephsayss I take it you've heard War Of The Worlds then?

  • @stephsayss If You like voices like this ju must see the video, Don LaFontaine - the voice

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  • Does anyone know if the background music was made specifically for this ad or is it something I could download?

  • @PatrickBons The piece is "Don't Blow It" by Cliff Martinez from the SOLARIS soundtrack. The entire album is fantastic.

  • @daughterofchaucer

    Wow. Thanks found it!

    Where do you think they find music like this? Is there any good website for soundtracks or ad music?

    THanks again

  • @PatrickBons There's a subgenre entirely of film soundtracks like this, but individual artists also become popular. Check out Clint Mansell too, and his soundtrack for Moon (2009). Very similar, and very good.

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  • @boiledelephant Thats awesome. Thanks so much for the help!

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  • @Totopickle There's also the 50s radio performance of the play on youtube, if you search for it, the version this is taken from.

  • @Totopickle

    It's not a poem, it's a (cut and rearranged) version of Under Milkwood, a play for voices written by Dylan Thomas. You can get it via project Gutenberg by searching google for it, "under milkwood text" - and use the under milkwood project gutenberg australia link)

  • @ezratoronto We do get cold and undrivable winters in Ireland, but around this time now it's not too cold and starts to gets warmer for summer. Yeah it's amazing how quiet it can be! I definately will do it again aswel buddy! :)

  • @ezratoronto We do get cold and undrivable winters in Ireland, but around this time now it's not too cold and starts to gets warmer for summer. I definately will do it again aswel buddy! :)

  • @ezratoronto try coming to the suburbs of Washington DC. in Great Falls and Mclean. Being one of the worst traffic areas by day....we're dead asleep at night. it's awesome to go for a drive around s-curves and bends. knowing that no one is there to bother you.

  • I have done the night drive at 3 am many times since watching this ad. Sydney is a beautiful city at night.

  • @ezratoronto I'm from a small town in Ireland and I once give this a go after about 4 am one night. The town was completely empty, no drunks or cops on the street. I definately want to do this again. Good to know I'm not the only one who tried this.

  • After watching this twice I noticed something... from 0:53-1:03, the cops are hanging out at the diner so the driver decides to run through not one, but TWO red lights!!! :D

  • @frank46N2 dude... good looks. i noticed that too.

  • Best time to travel whatever the car but in a VW Now that IS poetic

  • Great Ad - with the Solaris score -there aint many good Ads on TV like this these days,most using sex,scandal or the shock effect to sell their shitty product or service , VW did well with this, it hails of 80s Ad's - when the then target audience was alot smarter.. Drive a VW Golf..

  • I go for a drive like this practically every week. As for some more info - the DP behind the ad is Paul Cameron (who shot Mann's "Collateral" which is why the visuals are so similar), that is useful information if you're a cinephile like me.

  • As an insomniac who bought another VW recently,this ad and the car have served me well.I'd still like to hear Richard Simmons or that buffoon Sarah Palin narrate it though,for laughs.

  • I often come to this video in the dead of night. The visuals along with the forboding atmosphere created by Richard Burton here is simply captivating. If you seperate these elements, ie; the voice, imagery and music then it brings different feelings but together it creates something simply provocative. I think that's the best form of artisic expression because it seems to harness a different mood all together. One there are no words for.

  • Richard Burton voice is so good, sure he was welsh. "but"

    who else would you think would make a good 2nd narrator??

    Englishman I think john hurt ?

    American i think Morgan Freeman ?

  • As odd as it may sound, the sleepy surreal atmosphere of this ad is very similar to "Beyond", a short story from the Animatrix (it's the one where a girl is searching for her lost cat and stumbles upon a haunted house). Do a search on youtube for "Rare soundtrack from Animatrix - Beyond " and you will find the complete soundtrack together with a download link. It would make a great soundtrack for some user-created night drive timelapse. *hint hint*

  • Amazing advert, sends a shiver down my spine each time i watch it.

    

  • Wow, what a voice.

  • You can hear the dew falling, and the hushed town breathing.

    Only your eyes are unclosed to see the black and folded town fast, and slow,

    asleep.

  • And all the people of the lulled and dumbfound town are sleeping now.

    Hush, the babies are sleeping, the farmers, the fishers, the tradesmen and

    pensioners, cobbler, schoolteacher, postman and publican, the undertaker and the

    fancy woman, drunkard, dressmaker, preacher, policeman, the webfoot cocklewomen

    and the tidy wives. Young girls lie bedded soft or glide in their dreams, with

    rings and trousseaux, bridesmaided by glow-worms down the aisles of the

    organplaying wood.

  • Great Ad - always love to hear Richard Burton's voice. No one could narrate quite like him.

  • i've actually converted this into an mp3, i love listening too it on my ipod! this advert is amazing!

  • Cliff Martinez - Don't Blow It

  • lol I know this music, is from Solaris (2002) xD

  • The vuvuzela adds a whole new dimension to this.

  • @jakstrike1

    Genius *takes off hat*

  • Los Angeles?

  • this poem is perfection. Richard Burton really brings it to life. I'm obsessed!

  • Can't get enough of this ad ..... It's very addictive ! So sad the VW night driving website has been discontinued .... :-(

  • @Alibm80 I know!!!. WTF NOT COOL

  • @Alibm80 - i'm gutted they took it down - it's one of the bext interactive video pieces I've ever seen... :-(

  • I would have to agree that this ad was the best I have ever seen... it has actually inspired my group (EuroVagens) to do these every once and a while... Fun, relaxing, and a good time!

  • just love watching this before going out for a drive at 2am

  • @EDP407 As if It casts a spell on you to subconsciously put on your coat, grab your keys and go ..... It's just pure magical, mysterious seduction !

  • @CUNTENFUCKER if it introduces us, the 'contemporary plebs', to the play, or his work in general, what's your problem? Surely that can only be a good thing. Maybe you should write to the advertising agency and suggest they include the whole play next time if you're worried that it's making those of obviously inferior intelligence to you like the wrong bits of Thomas' work.

  • cliff martinez - don't blow it

    kocham tą piosenke

  • Best advert ever?

  • I've been searching for this ad for the longest time. Such a sense of forboding, as if somethings about to happen.

  • I stil luv this commercial and it stills givs me the goosebumps! I wanna save up 4 a Gti!

  • this is my favourite golf commercial. reminds me so much of everything that happened in 2007

  • God, Burton had a great voice.

  • Sorry to split hairs, but Under Milkwood is not a poem, though it does have plenty of poetry in it, it is a play. In the 1963 BBC radio play, Richard Burton plays 1st voice, the person who narrates and the provides atmosphere. The actual play is about the town of Llareggub ( Buggerall bakwards!!) and it's inhabitants. The inhabitants, such as Organ Morgan, Dai Bread and Captain Cat are played by other people and are just as important as Burton. It is a MASTERPIECE of writing and performance.

  • Oh and the reason I know this is not because I am Welsh, it is because of this advert!! The best ad ever, 33% Film, 33% Music, 33% Dylan/Burton and 1% Magic :)

  • @TheJonnyjarv Well, there are parts of Under Milkwood which are poetry, his use of compound adjectives and imagery are certainly poetic devices to say the least. As a whole it is a radio-play (you can find the entire in his anthology and collected works) but contained within is poetry.

  • Great, addictive, sad as happy.

  • Cool advert but it doesn't make me want to buy a Volkswagen.

  • I always look at VW drivers now, and try and see if they saw this advert before buying their cars.

  • the whole atmosphere is so haunting..definately spine tingling and magical

  • my favourite advert of all time---a stroke of genius

  • this commercial in definetely one of the best i've seen in my entire life. vw really understands how to make great advertisements. and I suppose that the spot was really expensive, cause it was shot in L.A., and they seemed to block all the streets.

  • This advert was the reason I bought a golf! Used to drive an Alfa Romeo

  • Best. Advert. Ever.

  • @ProjectFlashlight612 Definitely! It has the Solaris Soundtrack, Dylan Thomas AND the Golf *I own a mk5 golf*.

    It's just a fantastic advert.

  • Try the BBC website for the poem

  • That is incredibly atmospheric; a piece of art in its own right.

  • Im begging of the public to help me find this track. The background music & the poetry. Absolutely brilliant, but can not be found for the life of me...

  • Music is by Cliff Martinez. They transposed his song, "Don't Blow It" from the album, "Solaris"

    The poetry is "Under Milkwood" by Dylan Thomas and is narrated by Richard Burton. This can be found in the video description.

  • Please!! someone write me the words of this beautiful ad!!!

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  • Thaks so much!!!

    You are very kind!!!

  • A great example of how an ad can succesfully combine different art forms (poetry, music, film) in a coherent whole. I thought that the combination of the Cliff Martinez music and Burton's declamation of Dylan Thomas was very impressive. Now the only thing left is to go for a drive at 3 am.

  • Yes, they did parallel that. The advert draws together several related components to create something greater than the sum of its parts: edits of Richard Burton's haunting performance of Under Milk Wood, a play by Dylan Thomas whose poetry was a centerpiece of the film for which the music was composed.

    The advert is made all the more significant for being able to do this.

  • Sublime

  • After reading some of these comments, does anyone have anything to say about the commercial. Cuz it's kinda cool if you think about it. Just saying...

  • imp0cat, I can see where you are coming from,

    however,

    Gsixtyboy, are you from Scotland?

    More importantly, are you Glasweigan?

    If you are, you really should know better than to bring that type of comment into a global forum where religion does not matter.

    If you are not Scottish, you have just specifically singled yourself out as someone who has ideas way above your station!

    Basically, you seem to be all mouth and no trousers.

    Get my point, 'Brah'?

    Silly little boy that you are.

  • Guys, guys, enough! When was the last time you just went for a drive? Perhaps you should go now to clear your mind.

  • I love Under Milkwood and I love Solaris. So using them both in this advert is just amazing.

    So beautiful and surreal.

    Oh, and yes. I've got a mk5 Golf too :)

  • Try Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood. This is a Richard Burton recital of Thomas's poem.

  • does anyone know exactly what he says?

    sort of the lyrics

    lol

  • Best advert I've ever seen.

  • I wud luv to buy any vw with the blue light dials it looks cool.

  • How the FUCK is this a poem?

    It's just a story/speech but said with metaphors.

  • Dependes What you see as poetry?

    you being a 19 year old scrote from a tennament in Glasgow who wears sports clothes, spits on the floor all the time and says "Brah" or "by the way" after every garbled sentence containing more swear words than ordinary words is hardly poetry either is it?

  • You just completely stereotyped me and my city.

    Proves that you're a low-lifed maggot.

  • much like the stereo typing of what you see as poetry?

    AND your foul language you used to express your view, and your complete lack of ability to respond to a challenge in an interlectual way tells me im right about you, you shit kicker catholic

  • You're English. Everyone hates you and talks behind your backs and your accents are horrible.

    Oh, and i'm an athiest, so don't even go into religious bollocks. Go back to your self indulgent wankpit you prick.

  • So now we're attacking religious people why?

  • Explain when I attacked a religious person please?

  • I'd also like to point out that your spelling and grammar is absolutely appalling, and that you should be ashamed of calling me "a 19 year old scrote" considering everything i've said is more educated than what you've said.

    Get a life you fucking moron.

  • Great advert, Richard Burton must have one of the most powerfull and enigmatic voices EVER

    Dylan Thomas was a pretty good poet too :)

  • i like how he says "fast and slow"

  • "and the tidy wives", great poem.

  • i have watched this so many times and i still get goose bumps when i watch it...it makes me want to buy a vw... :)

  • a truly amazing ad that draws you in...could watch it over and over...actually I did!~~

  • an incredible piece of TV.

  • its true, driving at night is very enjoyable

  • that song is from the movie Solaris, that has one of the best soundtracks i've ever heard, and in my opinion, does 50% of the work

  • has to be VW golf,

  • One of the best car advertises i've seen...

    Just another reason why i need a car... just for cruising around the city at night...

  • i just remembered this advert!

    it should still be on tv its so artistic and well made

  • Without a doubt, this is the most memorable advert I have ever seen.

    The idea was sown in Solaris, with the soundtrack and references to Dylan Thomas. The accompanying images are beautiful. The logical conclusion was this. Perfect.

  • Finally an ad that captures the peaceful exhilaration you can only find driving at night. Seldom it is hard to find ads that show art, creativity and passion, but this ad is truly one of the few. Absolute brilliance.

  • Minor quibble: it's a shame that they showed the driver's face so much.

    Driving is a pleasurable experience, irrespective of race, creed, color or sex, so it's hard for a viewer who falls outside of the average white male demographic (portrayed here) to put themselves in the driver's seat of this otherwise terrific advert.

    Again, a minor quibble.

  • I can't seem to find a recording of Under Milk Wood that sounds like this.

    Also, this is my favorite piece of any type of video.

  • Try the BBC shop website :) i think i found it there.

  • Night is the best time to drive. No kids, no traffic, no noise. Time to think, to work stuff out in my tiny metal shell......small wonder crabs are so wise.

  • "Young girls lie bedded soft or glide in their dreams, with

    rings and trousseaux, bridesmaided by glow-worms down the aisles of the

    organplaying wood."

    Best lines

  • No, the best line in this passage is: "You can hear the dew falling ... "

    A.B. Surrey, England.

  • Why is that line so good?

  • "You can hear the dew falling."

    The vision required to be able even conceive of such a thing is the hallmark of a great poet. With 6 simple words it places you right there in that field in the dark alone in that strange new world of ethereal silence that night transforms the everyday world into.

    A.B. Surrey, England.

  • Ahhh I see. All I hear is the Hush town breathing.

  • " That strange new world of ethereal silence that night transforms the everyday world into." There aren't many of us that see that, unfortunately. You are one of us, my friend. Welcome to the realm of the Night Wanderers. Our symbol is the white rose . . .

  • The last time i went for a night drive was when i robbed the bank

  • If you`re looking for evidence that it`s possible for ads. to be art. - this is it.

    It also shows that strange deep magic that lies within the heart of the Welsh people.

    A.B. Surrey, England.

  • Wales lol, dont the english hate them?

  • Some of us laugh at them, but they`re the ones that don`t know much about them.

    Any people that can produce a Richard Burton & a Dylan Thomas should be taken seriously.

    A.B. Surrey, England.

  • Sorry Im American... who's Richard Burton?

  • Richard Burton is the guy doing the voice over for this film and one of the best actors, fim & theatre, of the last 1/2 century; he was also a Welshman. Dylan Thomas - a pal of his - wrote the poetry, he was also Welsh.

    A.B. Surrey, England.

  • this is easily my fav add of all time.

  • Mine too.

  • Aye indeed!

  • That music at the end is really haunting..made my neck hairs stand up and goose pimples

  • I'm not a fan of VW's, but this add makes me want to buy a Golf.

    Kudos to VW and their marketing guys.

  • Holy Shit!!! (no offense)

    Burton is a 'tour de force'...his voice and rhythm are out of this world...I am in awe. Don't think I'll ever hear another voice that will come anywhere near his brilliance.

  • yeah thats a fantastic ad.

  • hey everyone, don't forget the fabulous score by Cliff Martinez, from the OST to Solaris - the track is called "Don't Blow It", and the rest of the score is just as fabulous!! :D

  • yeah great track

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  • What an artistic combination they made... and besides, convincing... I wish I had a Golf to play Under Milkwood read by Richard Burton on it ;-)

  • i thought this was a cracking ad. a pitty they didnt run it for that long.

    Richard Burton sounds more whispery here than on the spoken word cd.

    sort of discovered Dylan Thomas through it actually.

  • fryfry - it's downloadable through itunes

  • Does anyone know if it is possible to download this exact version of Milk Wood?

    I.e. The music and the voice over?

  • Driving was originally intended as a leisurely activity, it's nice to see VW reminding us of that..

  • makes me feel very very sleepy :)

  • Best Ad ever made... makes me miss my Golf... CKN! Wherever you are, I miss you!

  • Great mood, great music - Cliff Martinez is god.

  • Anyone know what the music is?

  • first sleep by cliff martinez, it was used on the solaris soundtrack i believe

  • Don't blow it - Cliff Martinez

  • Don't know 'bout you, but I just love it when they use great works of art to sell us shit. I do. My hearts tingles with warmth at knowing that most people will look at this thing and think "Hmmm...Volkswagen hired some really good writters for this...hmmm"

    Sadness.

  • Or maybe it will encourage people to find out more about the advert, who in turn find out about Dylan Thomas, who in turn explore more of his work.

    Which is exactly what happened with me.

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  • This is amazing. VW produce many of the most creative ads I have ever seen.

  • drunken welsh bastard, good job burton wasnt driveing the car

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  • Truly outstanding.... makes you feel proud to own a VW and proud to be Welsh. Amazing !

  • damn richard burton what a wondrous welsh voice