When it comes to deciding what music videos are going to be about, a lot of the time it’s decided that the video will relate to what the song’s lyrics are about. However, there are plenty of videos that really don’t have much to do with the song’s lyrics at all, and here are 9 of them.
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‘Work From Home’ by Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign
‘Work From Home’ is about being lonely at home while your significant other is out at work. The video doesn’t really have much to do with the song’s lyrics, as it depicts the five Fifth Harmony Girls strutting their stuff around a construction site, posing suggestively with bits of equipment and dancing up close with the builders.
2. ‘Break the Ice’ by Britney Spears
The video for ‘Break the Ice’ is follows an animated anime-style superhero Britney as she battles robots and evil henchmen on her way to destroying a warehouse full of clones. This doesn’t really match the song’s lyrics, which are about Britney being away from a lover for a long time and wanting to ‘break the ice’ with him so they can be close again.
3. ‘Sorry’ by Justin Bieber
‘Sorry’ is an apologetic song, with Bieber hoping to redeem himself to a lover and asking for forgiveness. The video has nothing to do with apologies of any kind and simply features a group of dancers dancing along to the music.
4. ‘I Want It That Way’ by Backstreet Boys
The lyrics to ‘I Want It That Way’ have left many confused, but they seem to be about wanting things in a relationship to be different, even though there’s no clues as to what the ‘that’ in ‘that way’ actually refers to. The video has nothing to do with relationships and simply has the group singing and dancing at Los Angeles International Airport, while also being bombarded by fans.
5. ‘You And I’ by Lady Gaga
Gaga wrote this song about her on-and-off boyfriend and says the song’s about going back to something that means a lot to you. The song’s rather complex video features Jo Calderone, Gaga’s male alter ego, and Yuyi, Gaga’s mermaid alter ego and other versions of the singer and shows scenes of Gaga being tortured by a mad scientist and dancing in a barn with her backup dancers.
6. ‘California Gurls’ by Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg
The video for Katy Perry’s ‘California Gurls’ is set in the ‘Candyfornia’ board game. The song’s a tribute to the state of California, especially the women living there,
7. ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears
‘Toxic’ is about being addicted to a dangerous lover and enjoying it, yet the video portrays Spears as a secret agent searching for a vial of green liquid which she uses to poison her boyfriend.
‘8. ‘Telephone’ by Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé
‘Telephone’ is about preferring to be on the dance floor than answering phone calls relating to work/relationships. The 9-minute video for the song, a sequel to the video for ‘Paparazzi’, has Beyoncé break Gaga out of jail before heading to a diner where Gaga poisons the food, killing all the people eating there. After dancing among the dead bodies, the two flee the scene.
9. ‘Steal My Girl’ by One Direction
The song’s about worrying your girlfriend’s going to be wooed by potential suitors, yet the video, featuring none other than Danny DeVito, seems to be all about the boys letting their inhibitions go in the middle of a desert, with sumo wrestlers, a chimpanzee, flamingos, a mountain lion and ballet dancers featuring in the video.
