Throughout junior high and high school, I would come home after school, plop down on the couch and just watch music videos for an hour or two. It was one of the simple pleasures in life that easily amused me and passed the time. I still find time to watch a fair amount of videos, but it’s just not the same anymore.
Back in the day, the videos told a story averaging four minutes. It didn’t have to be deep, thought provoking or even meaningful. The simple purpose was that it provided something visually appealing to accompany the music for its duration. It also gave an identity to the band making the video, something that separated them from the rest of the pack.
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge” weaved a relatable tale of loneliness and drug abuse. Rollins Band’s “Liar” conveyed that looks and words can be deceiving. Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day” showed what an average day in his neighborhood was like growing up. Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” gave a tragic look at the common problem of parental neglect. My favorite video, Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” was just a fun and comedic play on police movie and television show stereotypes.
Today it’s almost like this art has been lost. There’s just not much substance to the videos anymore.
We get it: Limp Bizkit likes cars, Jay-Z likes girls and N*Sync is better as puppets than as real people. Also, videos of live performances used to be a rare treat. Now they are more like an inexpensive cop-out from giving up a day off to shoot a legitimate video.
All I’m saying is that without something interesting to stare at on the screen while listening to the song, it’s barely better than hearing that song on the radio. I still have hope due to the last great video maker, Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters. The videos for “Everlong,” “Learn to Fly” and “The One” are just a few of their entire collection of great visual accomplishments. The return to amazing music videos may not happen on my watch, but that’s okay. It’s that next generation of youth who have time to spare, and don’t desire to do anything worthwhile with it, that I worry about.
