Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Karen O Shoot 'Despair' Video On Top Of Empire State Building VIDEO

The Empire State Building is kind of a big deal, even in music as "Empire State of Mind" has proven. So it's somewhat surprising that know one has ever thought to shoot a music video from the top of it. That is, before alternative rockers the Yeah Yeah Yeahs began filming for new single "Despair." 

The band reportedly played the song during the early morning hours before tourists could flock to the building. It features vocalist Karen O prancing around with a smile on her face while her two bandmates play the song live. The video hasn't been released yet of course, but one brief clip has been made available. Watch it here. 

The song is the second single off of the band's recent release "Mosquito." 

Considering recent happenings in New York City, including the shootings that occurred at the Empire State Building in 2012, it wouldn't have been surprising if the tower's owners had said no. But Antony Malkin, president of the company that operates the building, seemed thrilled to oblige. 

"The way I look at it is, why hadn't this been done before?" he said. "Credit to them for having the gumption to ask."

Karen O was apparently just as happy in real life as she appeared during the shoot. 

"It's definitely not just another cool day in the life of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs," she said. "It was definitely an iconic moment. It's hard to do something like that and not to feel like it's symbolic - it's like the American dream for us, singing your song on top of the Empire State Building, feeling like: man, where were we 10 years ago, when we were sitting around in some punk rock dive bar, thinking about what to name our band, and New York City, and now here we are at the top. It really felt dreamlike."