Here’s the acid test, for me: I drive MANY MILES each day, listening to the radios, and if a song is good, I don’t care who sings it.
Only then do I check out the music video, and maybe blog about it on the WordPress machines.
TAKE ME TO CHURCH rocks on the radio.
However, having watched 4,092 bazillion music videos in my life, including a brief period where MTV actually played music videos, I’ve learned not to expect much from the actual video part, except for (a) boy bands dancing, (b) pop divas dancing in front of backup dancers who are far better at the dancing thing, (c) rock stars trying dance with the microphone stand or (d) hipster bands trying to be artsy and deep while mostly being bizarre.
Good music videos are rare.
I’m not talking “Bigfoot is in my backyard and I shot thirty minutes of film of him playing with my dog” kind of rare.
No. I’m talking about “Snooki is at a philosophy conference at Yale, presenting a paper on Nietzsche” rare.
So here are two music videos, both black-and-white, and both surprises.
First up is Hozier, the one from the headline. Great song on the radio, different and strong. The video makes it ever better, wonderfully shot in true film-noir style, it’s not afraid to have a non-Hollywood ending. Well played, Hozier.
The second song and video is also black-and-white and the same kind of slow burn. Had no idea who sang it when it played on the radio. Good stuff, full of pain and longing, and not your usual “baby baby” bubblegum pop nonsense with a guest rapper to give it some grit and soul. (How many times can pop stars go to that well? Apparently, forever.)
This second video shocked me by being by Selena Gomez, not known for this sort of song. And yes, she looks like every bartender in the world would card her, and the song is about Justin Bieber, who simply needs to go away. Despite those handicaps, which are huge, it works. So let’s give it props. Watch and listen.
The Red Pen of Doom 
I was already addicted to “Take Me to Church”, but I have a feeling this Selena Gomez song is next, which is good timing really, because lately I’ve had the Mary Poppins song “I Love to Laugh” going round and round in my head, occasionally slipping out to startle the passersby….
Thanks for that!
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All part of the service.
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Both videos are really quite compelling though I dislike depictions of violence…I know it’s out there and humanity really has taken a skid off the end of the runway in so many respects. My concern is how violence impacts the minds of those who ultimately see the darker side in that light. Not to rant though, the Hozier vid certainly has merit in terms of its technical designs, soundtrack and dramatic presence.
The Gomez video is sure to touch the heartstrings among the young and comes across in a genuine sort of way. Her striking beauty and emotional pain is only intensified by the black and white composition which, as with the still frame imaging of a camera lens, brings out a rich fullness and depth about the presentation visually and will surely have a substantial audience.
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So… if you want to watch a video that might make you want to party in the street, ride a skate board and/or paint your face colorfully check out Prayer in C Robin Schulz remix version. Not a great video but a good driving song.
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This video was carefully crafted dealing with a sensitive topic and certainly gets the point across that fear, violence and intolerance dominate our society today. Very sad indeed.
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I love the Take me to Church song it’s so catchy but that video is so sad. At least it brings awareness.
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They both sounded good but I preferred the second one only because I couldn’t understand the back story on Hozier. A homophobic group out to kill? That one would have been better without the video for me.
Happy New Year for Thursday.
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