Recently a friend introduced me to something called literal videos. A literal video is a remake, with a twist, of a popular music video, usually something older from the 1980s or 1990s.
The twist in the remake is that the lyrics for the song in the video are changed to reflect what's actually happening in the video. So if there's a shot of a car driving down the street, the literal video's lyrics will be something along the lines of "So there's a car ... driving ... driving down the street."
The words are sung by someone doing their best to match the musical sound and pacing of the original singer, making it seem like this is how the video has always been.
It's actually much harder to explain than it is to demonstrate. So, without further ado, here are four six of the funniest (to me, at any rate) literal videos I've found. If you haven't seen the original versions of these videos, the literal videos may not be quite so funny; I've included links to the originals, too.
- Ah-ha's Take on Me [original • literal video]. This was the original literal video, and I overlooked it when I first wrote this post. It's very well done. 2023 addition
- Creed's With Arms Wide Open [original • literal video]. Quite entertaining. 2023 addition
- Men Without Hats Safety Dance [original • literal video]. This one is crude in spots, but quite funny. Also, the literal version has been very nicely remastered in high def. 2023 addition
- Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart [original • literal video]. This one is, by far, my favorite. Some of the lines are absolutely hysterical. After watching it way too many times, there's no way I can watch the original now without hearing the literal video version's lines playing in my head.
- Meatloaf's I'd do Anything For Love [original • literal video]. Another very good effort, with some bits that are laugh-out-loud funny.
- The Beatles
Penny LaneSadly, this one seems to be gone now. - Journey's
Separate WaysThis one's also gone.
I've searched YouTube pretty extensively, and these are the best examples I've found. Anyone have any other recommendations that I may have missed?
I think the first (and best in my opinion) was A-HA's "Take on me". Very funny. Also I think that Tears for Fears "Head over heels" is pretty good.
hahahaaha. that made my day.
Total Eclipse is brilliant, but there are a lot of terrible ones out there.
I thought this one was about as good as Head Over Heels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev7Z2mF1UO4
The Boys Of Summer
Total Eclipse is the one possessed of true genius. However, I quite liked the Creed - With Arms Wide Open one.
I know that a few years back, you could still find on Funny or Die a whole bunch of literal videos that had been jettisoned from YouTube. However, they changed their video search function, and I haven't been able to find several of them since. Might have luck looking there?
Have you seen "We built this City"?
You can still find Separate Ways in other places. I did a regular Google video search and found it just today.
https://www.videoman.gr/en/97356
Penny Lane is on Daily Motion
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x71wj1p
Daydream Believer is also on Daily Motion
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x71wj1o