10 music videos so good they deserve Oscars
Around 60 years ago, Bob Dylan released the music video for ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’, which subsequently changed the way people consumed music.
Tracing back the history of the music video is difficult, given that a lot of songs originally covered by artists were taken from musicals, and therefore, most of them had videos attached. However, Dylan was one of the first people to release a music video for his song without there actually being a story to tell with said video. It was a simple offering, one that saw him drop cue cards with the lyrics written on them, but that act of simplicity was enough to spark a brand new art form within the world of music.
Since then, and following the creation of MTV, artists have taken their music videos just as seriously as they have taken the music that plays over them. They use these videos to tell stories and give the song layers that may not have been uncovered just from listening to the song alone. Throughout music, there are plenty of great videos attached, some of which are so stellar they deserve more recognition than they already have.
With that in mind, and with awards season lingering around the corner, it seems like the perfect time to acknowledge some music videos that are so good they deserve their very own Oscar. So, let’s roll out the red carpet.
10 music videos that deserve Oscars:
Guns N’ Roses – ‘November Rain’
The video for ‘November Rain’ has a very special place in my heart; I can’t remember what age I would have been when I originally saw the iconic music video, but I was old enough to recognise it as the coolest thing on the planet. When Slash came out of the church wearing leather trousers, brandishing a Gibson, and playing one of the most beautiful guitar solos ever written, it was truly life-altering, and I knew from that point on I was destined to be a rock star, but alas, I’m confined to a life of writing about them.
There is a lot more to the video than just Slash’s solo; of course, this was a masterclass in cinematography, as it told the story of love, death, and the chaos that can envelop them. It remains one of the best rock videos of all time and was born ready for the awards season.
Michael Jackson – ‘Thriller’
It’s the most obvious choice, and let’s face it, this video was always going to appear at some point on this list, so we may as well just get it out of the way quickly. A lot of the videos which appear here are grand in scale, but none of them come close to achieving what Michael Jackson was able to when he put together ‘Thriller’.
As if it wasn’t enough writing one of the greatest pop songs of all time, Jackson had to take things to another level by pairing it with one of the most memorable music videos ever recorded. This isn’t just some footage which can accompany the song; it’s essentially a horror movie in its own right, and it gave the world one of the most iconic dances ever thought up.
Beyoncé – ‘Single Ladies’
Look, at some point, there was going to be a Beyoncé video in this list too, for no matter what phase of her career the pop icon has been in, excellent music videos have followed her around like a shadow, to the extent that it’s not a question of if she’s made one of the best, it’s a question of which of her videos we should choose to include here. In the end, I opted for ‘Single Ladies’, which may surprise some people, but let me explain.
If you’re looking for something grander with a lot going on, there are better Beyoncé videos to choose from, such as ‘Formation’ or her collaboration with Lady Gaga on ‘Telephone’, but there is something so striking about ‘Single Ladies’ that it remains her best. There’s no over-the-top approach to the video; instead, it’s just one of the greatest all-around pop stars in the world doing what she does best. Her big ideas have always been great to witness, but the fact that she can so effortlessly draw beauty from simplicity shows just how much of a musical force she is.
Childish Gambino – ‘This Is America’
There are sometimes instances in the music world where everything stops, as if no one releases or records anything, no one has any ideas, and instead, everyone remains simultaneously fixated on one specific moment. That’s exactly what happened when Childish Gambino released the music video for ‘This Is America’, as the entire creative world stopped to watch.
The video is an impressive visual, as it puts together a huge cast, dancing, driving cars, shooting at one another and throwing Molotov cocktails. The whole thing comes together and creates one hell of a spectacle, which not only looks impressive but also plays into the song’s ambiguous meaning. With plenty of easter eggs hidden amongst the chaos, fans made it their job to pick apart every second of the video and work out what was happening. Theories about what it all means are still up in the air, but the one thing people have been able to agree on is that this is a masterpiece.
Kendrick Lamar – ‘We Cry Together’
When Kendrick Lamar released his album Mr Morale and the Big Steppers, it was pretty evident that he had put out one of his most emotional albums to date. While the Compton rapper had never shied away from vulnerability within his music, he took things to a whole new level with this LP, and perhaps the most emotionally charged track on the album came in the form of the back-and-forth argument ‘We Cry Together’.
This isn’t a song in the conventional sense; instead, it’s an argument that takes place between a man and woman who are at each other’s throats. The arguments reveal undertones of family drama, gender stereotypes, and general nastiness, expertly put together, and for the music video, Lamar opted to shoot a new version live. It appears to be done in one take and sees the two performers channel the emotion that originally attracted listeners to the song. There is more drama in this brief music video than there is in a lot of best picture winners at the Oscars, and therefore, it deserves some form of recognition.
Peter Gabriel – ‘Sledgehammer’
An obvious choice whenever anyone asks for opinions on the greatest music video of all time, Peter Gabriel‘s ‘Sledgehammer’ worms its way onto this list with complete and utter ease, not just because it’s become its own beast, but because it genuinely is one of the greatest things any artist has ever accomplished in music history.
Aside from the gruelling hours and impressive tech that went into pulling it off, it also proves what can be done when a musician really goes for it and treats the music video like an extension of the music itself, pulling out all the elements of the material and blending it in one big, glorious mush. Because really, would the song be so well-known if it weren’t for Gabriel’s vision? Probably not.
Sam Fender – ‘People Watching’
It’s no secret that Sam Fender is a master storyteller, especially when it comes to the more real and relatable matters of growing up in a working-class city and making your way up to the top despite all the ways it seeks to pull you down.
With ‘People Watching’, Fender enlisted help from another master storyteller, Andrew Scott, to depict the complexities of grief in a performance that, had it been a longer film, would no doubt be taking the reins come awards season. In fact, the whole thing feels criminally underrated, especially when you look at Scott’s performance, and how it feels so heartbreakingly real, it’s almost like we’re right there in the story ourselves.
YUNGBLUD – ‘Zombie’
In the music world, there seems to be a bit of a divide when it comes to YUNGBLUD, for on the one hand, there are the loyal fans who’ll jump at any opportunity to defend him or his music. On the other hand, there are the casual listeners, who probably rate him as a person, but can’t quite connect with anything that comes through the speaker.
Whichever side of the fence you sit on, it’s hard to argue against ‘Zombie’ being an incredibly touching music video, for similar reasons to Fender’s ‘People Watching’. In this scenario, we see Florence Pugh step into the shoes of a burned-out nurse who works tirelessly day in and day out but feels plagued by the burden of carrying such a hefty responsibility. Again, it’s not for the faint of heart, but one that stays with you long after you’re done watching.
Arctic Monkeys – ‘Leave Before The Lights Come On’
In the broader context of Arctic Monkeys’ legacy, you wouldn’t necessarily consider their music videos to be anything close to groundbreaking. There are a few standouts worthy of attention, like the exploration of fan culture in ‘Snap Out Of It’ and the iconic spoof of the art form itself with ‘Cornerstone’, but, generally, Arctic Monkeys’ music videos are pretty vapid.
‘Leave Before The Lights Come On’, however, could have been its own full-length movie, where what gets you the most isn’t the story, although that does, too, but how inexplicably intense it feels, like we’ve all been somewhere in the same cycle, looking for something you can’t quite put your finger on but feeling compelled to go to extremes to get it.
Gorillaz – ‘On Melancholy Hill’
It wouldn’t be a legitimate list of music videos without at least one entry from Gorillaz, and while there are countless to choose from, ‘On Melancholy Hill’ seemed the most poignant. It’s a quieter, more reflective point in the broader story, one that you can separate to mean anything you want, whether a rumination on loneliness, disillusionment, unrequited love, or the general feeling of malaise.
The video, though, is a masterclass in matching a song’s atmosphere, taking the general mood of sitting with a feeling, letting it consume you, and wallowing in it while enjoying the sense of calm it brings. The best part is that it doesn’t try to do anything with it; there isn’t a sense of resolution, but you just exist there until the next time, when you come back just for another taste of that weird sense of longing.
