WATCH: Max Swan’s Latest Puts a Nostaglic Spotlight on Philadelphia

In all likelihood, you’ve never seen the streets of Philadelphia quite like this.
Genre-bending Philly native Max Swan released a music video to accompany his take on the 1967 Henry Mancini classic, “Two For The Road.” The hopeful, harmony-rich ballad — updated by Swan with sprinkled-in touches of modern pop — is a tune about stress-free, life-long companionship. In this instance, however, it is contrasted by visuals of Philadelphia’s abandoned public spaces taken during quarantine.
“I’d like people to utilize this music as time to reflect,” Swan said. “‘Two For The Road’ (or affectionately nicknamed ‘2fer’) was started and finished during the first month after the quarantine began in America, with the tradeoff of ‘2fer’ being such a beautiful piece of music under such eerie circumstantial context. (That is) what makes it so peculiar.”
The video was directed by Chris White, who used drone footage to capture the eerie emptiness of a once-bustling metropolis.
“There was a strange beauty in the quiet and stillness of everything. It was like time had slowed down to a crawl, and we were all living in this eerie shadow of our lives that had all simultaneously changed,” White noted. “I think that same feeling is mirrored in the music. It has this mix of beauty and ghostly nostalgia to it.”
Swan adds, “’As long as love still wears a smile, I know, that we’ll be two for the road, and that’s a long, long while.’ Hearing those words, while wondering if this is ever going back to what it was before, it stands the hairs up on the back of your neck.”
Dive into the eerie nostalgia of this beautiful piece of work. Watch “Two For The Road” in full below!