3 of the Weirdest Music Videos of All Time

Music videos have been around for decades (centuries, even, if you count illustrated songs of the late 1800s and turn-of-the-century talkies), and while that makes selecting three of the weirdest music videos of all time a challenge, we think we got pretty close with this list.

But first, what, exactly, is weird? Is it the seriously NSFW pseudo-pornographic music videos like Flying Lotus’ “Parisian Goldfish”? Do things like Die Antwoord’s “I Fink U Freeky” music video count when, really, the entire video concept fits with the group’s overall aesthetic? Is a 1980s music video weird if, at the time, it was actually cool?

Defining weird is a brain-scratcher indeed, and thus, that’s what we’re sticking with: the brain-scratchers. Not quite sexual but definitely uncomfortable, these three music videos raise more questions than answers. Join us on our weird, wild journey below.

“Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden

It doesn’t get much more “peak weird 1990s” than Soundgarden’s 1994 music video for “Black Hole Sun.” From its suburban characters with grotesquely misshapen eyes and mouths to a melting Barbie doll on a barbecue spit to a sunbathing woman with a forked lizard tongue, this music video is like a trippy nightmare that’s impossible to explain once you wake up.

Meanwhile, Soundgarden is dressed in jeans and tees, playing in a field with a fast-moving sky zooming behind them until the sun finally explodes. (The band continues to play in the explosion because why not?) Soundgarden later said British video director Howard Greenhalgh came up with the entire apocalyptic idea and that it was the one music video they were really proud of. After all, it was certainly their most memorable one.

“Hooked On A Feeling” by David Hasselhoff

When a video starts with a rotating cube featuring a black bear dancing to the song’s distinct “ooga chaka” intro, you know you’re in for a doozy. David Hasselhoff’s “Hooked On A Feeling” music video earned its rightful spot on our Weirdest Music Videos list the moment the director opted to have Hasselhoff flipping through the air in a black leather trench coat.

Another notable feature of this fever dream of a music video is the singing angel children accompanying Hasselhoff as he dances with a pair of dachshunds next to a muddy river in a park ranger outfit. And who can forget Hasselhoff shrugging his shoulders and pointing to the camera while another smaller Hasselhoff plays air guitar (in mid-air, obviously) behind him? Hasselhoff’s version of “Hooked On A Feeling” was about as commercially unsuccessful as the music video was weird.

“She’s So High” by Tal Bachman

Look, we didn’t want every video on this list to be from the 1990s, but some bizarre creative choices were happening then, and Tal Bachman’s 1999 “She’s So High” music video is proof. The music video follows a woman in angel wings and World War II headgear walking down a city street, smiling to herself.

At one point, she steals balloons from a clown before handing them off to a little girl. (She also steals the girl’s glass of water.) The child floats off into the sky with the balloons, presumably never to be seen again. Then, the woman climbs a fire escape and balances on a telephone wire to the shock and horror of the crowd below before diving off the wire into the glass of water she placed underneath the line. As she stands up, soaking wet, the crowd cheers, she bows, and the music video ends.

See? Way more questions than answers.

(Photo by Soundgarden/YouTube)