Janelle Monae – Cold War
Dir. Wendy Morgan (2010)
Radiohead – No Surprises
Dir. Grant Gee (1998)
Watch for the small smile after he emerges from the water.
Björk – Hunter
Dir. Paul White (1997)
Björk transmogrifying into a cyber-elf-bear. I mean, don’t we all feel like that when head-shake dancing? Just not as adorable as Björk.
Honourable mentions
Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues (1965)
Dir. Dylan with D. A. Pennebaker: Documentary: Dont Look Back (1967)
Possibly the first music video clip also with partial cue card narration.
Sinéad O’Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U
Dir. John Maybury (1990)
U2 – Numb
Dir. Kevin Godley (1993)
Alanis Morissette – Head Over Feet
Dir. Michelle Laurita (1997)
LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends
Dir. Jon Blistein (2007)
Lorde – Tennis Court
Dir. Joel Kefali (2013)
Billie Eilish – when the party’s over
Dir. Carlos López Estrada (2018)
If you like these, there’s a whole genre of one shot music clips which are also technically amazing but not necessarily as intense as these. See Michel Gondry’s Kylie Minogue clip, Moloko, OK Go, Feist, Spice Girls….