MTV didn’t invent the music video, but once the cable channel mushroomed in popularity in the early ‘80s, it was expected artists would make videos to promote new songs. Plenty of artists opted for the tried-and-true format of performance videos, while others got creative and made concept videos. A few truly ambitious artists used videos to tell stories, and for the most part, these mirrored or embellished the stories told in their songs.
Videos by American Songwriter
Then there are the videos for these four songs. Each of them tells a story, but the connections between the narratives in the videos and the ones in the songs are tenuous at best. As a concept, these videos might not make much sense, but hey, videos are supposed to be fun! And you have to admit, the way these videos strain the boundaries of logic is at least a little bit of that.
1. Pat Benatar, “Shadows of the Night”
The meaning of “Shadow of the Night,” which was written by David Leigh Byron and Rachel Sweet, is unequivocally clear. It’s a song about a world-weary couple talking themselves into spending one night together, even if they have no future beyond that.
There is no love story depicted in the video, only a daydream sequence that Benatar is having while, naturally, working at her job as a riveter during World War II. Benatar escapes into thoughts of being a fighter pilot who infiltrates a Nazi compound. The only allusions to the song itself occur when Benatar and her fellow pilots scurry in the dark to plant bombs in the compound—running, literally, in the shadows of the night—and when there are shots of her plane, Midnight Angel, which is a phrase taken from one of the pre-choruses. The video is also notable for cameo appearances by Judge Reinhold and Bill Paxton. It was directed by Mark Robinson, who also directed the Pretenders’ video for “Brass in Pocket.”
2. Bonnie Tyler, “Total Eclipse of the Heart”
The video for “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is completely over the top, but what better way to accompany a composition by Bill Steinman, who made a career out of writing melodramatic, pull-out-all-the-stops tunes like the ones on Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell? If we dig deep, maybe there’s some sort of link between Tyler’s bizarre foray through the grounds of a boys’ boarding school and Steinman’s vampire love song, but on the surface, the two stories don’t seem to have anything to do with each other. This is just one of several popular videos directed by Russell Mulcahy, whose credits include Duran Duran’s “Rio,” Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes,” Billy Joel’s “Allentown,” and Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me.”
[RELATED: The Meaning Behind the Extravagant “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler]
3. Phil Collins, “Don’t Lose My Number”
In “Don’t Lose My Number,” Collins gives us the basic details of his protagonist Billy’s predicament, but there are some gaps that could be filled in. We know that Billy is on the run from the law and that he didn’t mean to do whatever it is he is being pursued for. We also know that Collins wants to be sure that Billy doesn’t lose his number so that he can offer his support if needed.
But what, exactly, did Billy do? The James Yukich-directed video doesn’t try to answer this question. Instead, he made a video that is a series of parodies of popular videos and films, disguised as a story about how Collins is reluctantly dragged through the process of deciding on a theme for the song’s video. The first director to approach Collins in the video is played by noted film and television composer J. Peter Robinson, who played keyboards on Collins’ first two solo albums and was his bandmate in Brand X.
4. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “You Got Lucky”
One of the films parodied in “Don’t Lose My Number” is Mad Max 2, but three years earlier, Tom Petty and his band had their own take on the Mel Gibson vehicle. The video for “You Got Lucky” depicts the group arriving in a post-apocalyptic desert scene, with Petty and Mike Campbell showing up in a hovercar and the rest of the band—Benmont Tench, Howie Epstein, and Stan Lynch—arriving on a motorcycle with a sidecar.
They explore an abandoned tent and find a bank of televisions, recording equipment, and a guitar while the song plays on a boombox that Petty found partially buried in the dirt. Does this have anything to do with the song’s lyrics, in which Petty challenges his significant other to find a better partner than him? Well, no. But the video’s setting does fit the song’s sparse, spooky feel. Plus, it looks like the band had an absolute blast filming it. Just check out Lynch’s devilish grin as he flips the lever that powers up the piles of equipment.
Photo: YouTube screen shot from “Pat Benatar – Shadows Of The Night (Official Music Video)” post by account Benatar Giraldo
