Toe in the Water

The Writing's on the Wall

The Writing’s on the Wall

There are some videos that do their songs no good at all. This one by OK Go is a case in point. It is filled with optical illusions and becomes so fascinating that all attention to the song is drained. Having watched and listened just once, I am only conscious of a mildly pleasant pop ditty in the background. To write something about the song, I am going to have to listen a second time.

Maybe that was the intent. But not everyone is going to be listening with the idea of writing something for the Media Prompt Challenge afterwards. For the vast majority of people, the video will merely be a distraction and not a riveting marketing ploy.

So I listened again. And read the lyrics. It is, as my brief experience had suggested, a fairly standard, bright, cheerful and bouncy little song with nothing to make it stand out from its competitors. The lyrics are as close to meaningless as possible without being complete nonsense. Yes, it’s about the beginnings of love (big surprise there) and I suppose a case could be made for the disjointed lack of a logical thrust reflecting the disorientation of a mind in the first throes of young love. But that may be too optimistic. The same could easily be said about any number of pop songs.

In the end, the only thing that is memorable about the song is the video. I find myself wondering how many of the illusions were created in reality (a terrible amount of work involved in that) and how much was thanks to computer graphics. Perhaps it doesn’t matter. The net result is a succession of cleverly constructed scenes that dissolve into something entirely different. The mind is kept busy, trying to keep track of the way in which the scene has been built up.

The final scene, in which we get an impression of the vastness of the warehouse used for creation of the video, and so many people start emerging from various parts of the scenery, it becomes apparent that a fair amount of money has been spent in promoting this song. Especially if all those people were involved in the design and building of the sets. They all have to be paid, after all.

I can only presume that someone, somewhere, has done their homework and is confident that this little ditty is going to wow its chosen market and sell in the millions. And who am I to criticise, who loves Status Quo in spite of the fact they only know one tune and just change the words each time?


Word count: 442
For 49-Hour Challenge: Media Prompt, 04.06.22
The Writing's On the Wall by OK Go.