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Mermaids go global in British band's video

The Weeki Wachee attraction has garnered attention and support across the pond for its survival.

By MARY SPICUZZA
Published October 11, 2005

	[Courtesy of Weeki Wachee Springs]
	Jordy Klein films Crystal the mermaid and Danny Goffey of Supergrass at Weeki Wachee Springs in August. Supergrass video

WEEKI WACHEE - The mermaids have staged their own British invasion.

The Weeki Wachee mermaids are now starring in a new music video with the British band Supergrass.

It first aired in the United Kingdom a couple of weeks ago and has already inspired a new mermaid fan base abroad.

"Everyone's like, "Wow! What an amazing place,"' video producer Nick Goldsmith said of his fellow Brits' reaction to Weeki Wachee Springs. "Either everyone is like, "I've always wanted to be a mermaid' or "I want to go to that place."'

In the video for the song Low C , the mermaids frolic underwater with band members in the Mermaid theater. They sing a mermaid anthem onstage at the Upper Deck, a Weeki Wachee restaurant and bar. Even the former mermaids and former mermaid-turned-mayor Robyn Anderson are featured hanging out with Supergrass.

The documentary-style video, filmed in Weeki Wachee in August, also features historic footage from the early days of the mermaid shows, which began in 1947.

The melancholic song is not actually about merfolk, but it is devoted to preserving the past.

"The things we used to have/ Are fading all too fast," singer Gaz Coombes croons while sitting on a river boat as it floats along the Weeki Wachee River. "Like a castle in the sand/ Well some things they're meant to last."

The video's director, Garth Jennings, said he first visited the roadside attraction as a young boy and had always wanted an excuse to go back.

When he heard the Supergrass single, the nostalgic theme made him immediately think of Weeki Wachee.

"It's just one of those odd things that you don't find anywhere else in the world," Jennings said.

Goldsmith and Jennings, who also produced and directed the film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , decided to devote the video to the mermaids and the campaign to save the aging attraction, known as Save Our Tails.

"We decided the video needed to be a celebration of this wonderful place," Goldsmith said.

While there, the band and crew immersed themselves in all things Weeki Wachee.

"When we weren't filming, we were at Buccaneer Bay going down the slides," Goldsmith said.

Apparently, their love of Weeki Wachee has been contagious throughout Britain.

"Keep up the good work with the Save Our Tails campaign," Chris MacInnes of Edinburgh, Scotland, wrote in an e-mail to Weeki Wachee. "And remember ... they can take the land, the sky and the oxygen from Weeki Wachee Springs, but mermaids can breathe underwater ... stay strong."

The attraction has already shipped about $500 worth of mermaid-inspired merchandise to the United Kingdom.

"Everybody's going Weeki Wachee crazy," the park's marketing and promotion manager John Athanason said.

The song, Low C , is a single from Supergrass ' Road to Rouen album.

Video creators said they hope it will not only promote the band, but also will help Weeki Wachee Springs fight for its survival.

"I know it sounds really pathetic, but there's something magical about the place," Goldsmith said. "I'm a soppy heart."

--Mary Spicuzza can be reached at mspicuzza@sptimes.com or 352 848-1432.

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 01:57:17]