If you've ever watched a music video and wondered what the hell it had to do with the song, this post is for you. It holds the best literal versions of music videos the Web has to offer. We would've included all the ones Aerosmith did in which Alicia Silverstone acted out every lyric of the song, but those were meant in earnest and were therefore disqualified.
1) "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" by Bonnie Tyler. "Here's where I pretend to be Eva Peron...Look at me I'm lifting my arms/ There's nothing else to shoot...so zoom camera under this arch." Amazing.
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2) "Separate Ways" by Journey. Journey is deeply under-appreciated in this society, but not in the world of literal videos. Their visual interpretation for "Separate Ways" perfectly lends itself to literal treatment as everything the band is awesomely ridiculous.
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3) "Under The Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. DustoMcNeato (aka Dustin McLean) is credited as the founding father of this genre, and this is Dusto at his best: Completely inane.
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4) "Take On Me" by Aha. This video was a huge hit on the Internets, introducing many people to a world in which lyrics and images were one and the same. Considering it's a drawing inside a video inside the 80s, everything lines up perfectly.
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5) "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears. "I'm acting really bashful while I'm singing to you/ Oh, I won't go away, no I just won't go away." Any video with a monkey in a library needs to be mocked.
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6) "Just A Friend" by Biz Markie. Our friend SeanieMic's fabulous take on Biz Markie's one and only hit.
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7) "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed. This one seems too easy in that Creed's music videos are often literal interpretations the first time around. Still, they are completely silly and the "Lion King" approach is an interesting twist.
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