the ocean

Ian has taken to putting on the Vevo music video channels (included with your Samsung TV, friends) while he is working. I am not questioning the soundness of this decision, as it really does provide some pleasant ambient noise to accompany one's labors without being too distracting. However, I have come to realize from this exercise that many music videos of decades past are incredibly strange.

For example, the "Doing it All for My Baby" video from Huey Lewis (& the News, of course). For some reason, this incredible upbeat, frankly saccharine tune was accompanied by a video in which Huey himself plays Dr. Frankenstein for some reason. It is seven minutes long. It literally could not have less to do with the song. Did Huey just see "Thriller" and think, hey, I guess people are doing monster videos now? It's kind of jarring for a song that even at the time seemed destined for Muzak at your local Dollar General.

And then there's "The Warrior" by Scandal featuring Patty Smyth. I think it's supposed to be post-apocalyptic? It's kind of industrial chic and there's some sort of dance battle involved, with people who are maybe aliens? Or fishermen? (There are nets, but also body suits.) It does look a little bit like Cats the musical.

Not as much as the video for "Bad Boy" by Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine, of course. It is a daring love story about a woman who seems to be sexually interested in man-sized cats. They are unambiguously cats, with tails that sometimes function as boners, whiskers, and a love of fish. And Gloria is in what appears to be a Quinceanera dress, dancing so stiffly that I literally googled to see if this was filmed after the accident where she injured her spine. It was not.

Anyway, it's all kind of a vibe. Not mad at it, but also pretty sure I'm going to have some fucked up dreams for a while.