In an interview, lead singer Brandon Boyd explained the song's origins, "I was in a bookstore, browsing through an old Life magazine, when I saw a picture of what the article called spontaneous human combustion. There were an old guy's legs and shoes, perfectly intact - then, right around his knee area, was just a pile of charred ashes. I was going through some turmoil in my life, both good and bad, and the image struck a chord, so I wrote a song about it."[5] Boyd had recently returned from a tour to find out that his girlfriend of 7 years broke up with him, and that both his grandmother and a close friend of his had died. After seeing a picture in Life magazine of a man who had spontaneously combusted, he related the man's problems to his own[5] and was inspired to write the lyric "Pardon me while I burst into flames" on his hand.[citation needed]
Music video
The music video for "Pardon Me", directed by Steven Murashige,[5] also gained considerable airplay. The video begins with Brandon Boyd and his father Charles,[5] at opposite ends of a hallway. As the two approach each other, Charles begins to regress in age and appearance, while Boyd begins to grow more elderly, becoming increasingly alike as they advance toward each other. When they meet, they pass through each other and continue on in opposite directions. Footage of the band members in white outfits (except for Boyd, who is shirtless) in a red-colored box are also shown, as is footage of the band members in red outfits being surrounded by businessmen and businesswomen.
The video premiered on The Box the week ending on January 16, 2000.[6]
