Songs that are inseparable from their music videos

Seems like a pretty basic thread, but I searched for a while and couldn't find it.

So yeah, songs that you CANNOT separate from their music videos no matter what context you hear them--ESPECIALLY if they don't make sense without them.

1. Thomas Dolby - "She Blinded Me With Science."
I was listening to this in the park, and it might have been the first time I've heard it without the video attached. It makes no sense to have some dude just intermittently "yelling" SCIENCE!" if you can't watch the video for contextual clues and know he is, in fact, a mad scientist and Thomas, as narrator, is too. I can't imagine hearing this song before the video came out and it making any sense.

2. Michael Jackson - "Thriller"
Again, what a weird song--the hottest record on earth and it's all about ghouls and demons and rotting inside a corpse's shell. What the fuck. With the video, it totally makes sense. This was like the 6th single off this album, so can any older ilXors describe hearing this song in 1983, before the video?

i cannot call myself a fan of this band, but when i was younger we had this station called "the box" that played music videos, and "californication" was huge. i must have been 11 or twelve at the time, i dunno. anyway, i still remember that video pretty vividly.
another one i remember was "teenage dirtbag" by wheatus. now that i think of it, i can recall a shocking number of songs and videos from around the turn of the century, of drastically varying quality.

I certainly loved the song Thriller before the video appeared and anxiously awaited and watched the debut. But I would still agree that the two are inseparable now.

***

Ministry "Jesus Built My Hotrod" is a song that really only makes sense/works with the video reference.

Wicked Game--Chris Isaak

Addicted To Love--Robert Palmer

Love Is A Battlefield--Pat Benatar

Smuggler's Blues--Glenn Frye (this video blew my 7th grade mind)

Twilight Zone--Golden Earring

Weezer - Buddy Holly

Christine Aguelira - Dirrty

sledgehammer
cradle of love

Hit Me Baby One More Time

Star Guitar - judging from the title the Chem's obviously had a different idea about what the song represented, but Gondry took his own vision and ran with it, and it is perfect.

Fun game: on a bus or train journey, put the song in yr headphones, look out the window, and make your own realtime video remix.

"Take On Me" - A Ha
"Take A Chance On Me" - ABBA
"Billie Jean" and "Beat It" - Michael Jackson

Green Jelly: Three Little Pigs

Eric Prydz - Call On Me, Lifelike & Kris Menace - Discopolis and many other soft porn videos for chart dance music.

A lot of song parodies by Weird Al Yankovic

u2 -- numb

Nothing compares 2 U

New Order 'True Faith'

Buggles - "Video Killed The Radio Star"

This whole thread makes no sense if you grew up without MTV and never actually saw any of these music videos.

Duran Duran's "Rio" is the first music video I can remember, and is inextricably linked to its ultra-cheesy video in my mind:

i've never heard anyone mention that johnny cash nine inch nails cover without the suffix of OMG THE VIDEO TOO SO SAD HES REALLY OLD.

Til' Tuesday: Voices Carry

It's harder for me to think of early 80s songs that AREN'T inseparable from their videos. Besides all the punk stuff I got into way later.

Right now, I'm trying to think of one that doesn't immediately bring to mind some image from a video. "The Break-up Song" by Greg Kihn is the only one for me. Ha, "King of Pain" could be another.

Otherwise, to answer this thread's question, any Duran Duran Nena Culture Club etc.

Losing My Religion

I suddenly get this thread!

The answer is - November Rain by Guns N Roses.

Even though I'd heard the song years earlier on a bootleg a friend made at an early NYC club gig, it is totally inseparable from that video, the guitar outside the church, standing on a piano, on a cliff... etc. etc. (even though YouTube has shown my memory to be wrong.)

Most Cure singles from Let's Go To Bed onward.

oh and Men Without bleedin Hats

"that dance wasn't as safe as they said it was"

can any older ilXors describe hearing this song in 1983, before the video?

Well, Thriller itself had already sold like 10 million copies before the title video's Historic! World! Premiere!, and as noted, it was the sixth single. So I was already overly familiar with the song and really don't associate it with the video at all. Especially since that video was an overhyped, overblown non-event. The FX were unimpressive to anyone who'd already seen "An American Werewolf In London", the choreography was likewise recycled from "Beat It". And the story & dialogue & acting were forgettable. Underwhelming in every way.

(Now, "Jazzin' For Blue Jean": that's a solid piece of sustained entertainment.(

Lionel Richie - "Hello"

OTM. I can't even recall right now how the song goes, but I'll never forget the video.

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?action=showall&boardid=40&threadid=39365

Genesis - "Land of Confusion"

Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

can't remember whose song it was but there was a tune in the early 80s called Lawn Chairs, and it came with this cute vid of animated.... er lawnchairs

Prefab Sprout - "The King of Rock'n'Roll"

Big Time -- Peter Gabriel
Fashion -- David Bowie
Karma Chameleon -- Culture Club
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" -- Eurythmics
"Material Girl" -- Madonna

"Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys.

Serious, I hear that song come on in the car and from there on out, it's all WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOW!

"You Might Think," the Cars.

"Money for Nothing," Dire Straits.

"Every Breath You Take," the Police.

"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," Cyndi Lauper

Kate Bush - "Wuthering Heights" and "Babooshka"

"I'm still standing" - Elton John
"Cloudbusting" - Kate Bush

John Fogerty-"The Old Man Down The Road"

"When Doves Cry" - Prince

Talking Heads- "Once in a Lifetime"
Aphex Twin- "Come to Daddy"

Robert Palmer - "Addicted to love"
Bjork - "It's oh so quiet"
Daft Punk - "Da Funk" and "Around the world"

faith no more, 'epic'

A more interesting question, maybe, would be "why does this happen?" A lot of times it seems like an admitted personal subjective experience thing - "first video I saw" etc. But there are others where song and video really do seem to fuse into a single thing where one needs the other to complete it - "Sabotage," whatever its actual contents, somehow makes sense as the theme for a 70s cop show. What makes that work?

(Great thread btw!)

another Kate Bush video - "There Goes A Tenner"

I've only seen one Kate Bush video and it's the one where she just dances around during the longest fade-out in the world.

ABC's Look of Love. Best music video ever?!

I agree with only about half of these songs mentioned above..
but
Spin Doctors - Pretty Baby
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979, Tonight, Tonight

oops I mean del amitri - roll to me (not pretty baby)

meatloaf - I'd do anything for love

windowlicker
I mean not to make this just a list thread for good music videos
but yeah
that one part with the champagne flying everywhere is pretty linked to that kind of sound of me

*for

Is it possible to add a "songs we like" clause to this thread? I've been kinda proud of this thread for sticking to that without having to. Because I could mention some video by Bumblebeez 81 where the song is total ass, yet the song is permanently attached to the video in my mind nonetheless.

Baby One More Time been mentioned yet?

Hobo Humping Slobo Babe is what came to mind for me. Also Money for Nothing, but it's been said.

"Your Mother Should Know", The Beatles <<< I don't like this song, or the video.

black hole sun

probably most of the bevis and butthead music vids

that song with the girl dressed like a bee.

The Go-Gos - Our Lips Are Sealed

Springsteen - Philadelphia

"that song with the girl dressed like a bee"
Yup, Blind Melon - "No Rain" -- first one I thought of when I read the thread title!

A more interesting question, maybe, would be "why does this happen?" A lot of times it seems like an admitted personal subjective experience thing - "first video I saw" etc. But there are others where song and video really do seem to fuse into a single thing where one needs the other to complete it - "Sabotage," whatever its actual contents, somehow makes sense as the theme for a 70s cop show. What makes that work?

― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, October 28, 2008 2:13 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

This is sort of where I was trying to go with this. Less about what's inseparable for YOU and more about song/video combos that would be inseparable for MOST PEOPLE.

I think "Thriller" and "Take On Me" are the two best examples.

But "Sabotage," "She Blinded Me With Science," "Three Little Pigs," "Voices Carry," "Hello," "Land Of Confusion" and "Hurt" are all great examples too.

"Fish Heads" too now that I think of it.

I think it's a combination of three things
1. A video with a unique look and stark, memorable imagery (duh)
2. A song that isn't really played in other places BESIDES the videos --like the radio and party DJs and whatever usually choose "Beat It" or "Billie Jean" or "PYT" over "Thriller." And where else were you gonna hear"Three Little Pigs?"
3. Lyrical content that either works DIRECTLY with the video ("Hurt," "Blinded Me With Science") or creates its own visual language ("Sabotage")