It's not a particularly stunning video but bearing in mind the musical climate of 1987- Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Rick Astley...etc, i think it proved a point.

To have a video in the 80's that had no story line, no amazing graphics, no budget to speak of, no sign of the artist in the video.....just the words... MTV suicide back in those days. I thought it was a really cool thing to do. Let the words carry the video cause the words blow the shit out of anything else that's out there.

Something about that video sums up the whole Sign O The Times vibe for me.

I think you're right about that. This title track was so politically and socially conscious...I loved it! And images may have only detracted from the meaning, so I'm glad that only the lyrics were shown. Smart idea.

Octavius said:

Awesome track! One of my favorites. Great bassline, synths, and drumbeat. Socially conscious song, that shocked people because they didn't expect this song coming from the dude in the Superman draws and leg warmers.

Video is awful.

I woulda preferred a "artist looking world weary" sorta video ala Bruce springsteen's touchung "philly" video.

i've seen better screensavers.

thesexofit said:

oh no ... I love that video. Just putting the words on screen gives it more impact. It's actually one of my faves

Never cared for this supossed video. It never aired on MTV, BET or any other channel here in the states.

When I finally did see it, I was like... is that it? Boring.

Yet as crappy as it was... alot of people copied him, and made similar videos after this.

Anxiety said:

In the 80's?

thesexofit said:

the flying toasters!

anyway, i think the video just made Prince look more crazy
yeah, it may have been a statement, but it still would've made people wonder

williammelvinhicks said:

Hmmm...you have a point! It probably was the best choice for the video.

I think he did it as he wanted the lyrics to be read.

superspaceboy said:

that, and he couldn't be bothered to make a video.

Anxiety said:

Did he even make any videos for that album?

superspaceboy said:

u got the look. of course, he recycled it for the movie, then used a live clip from the flick for the ICNTTPOYM video.

Anxiety said:

I was gonna say that but didn't know which came first. You know I think that video is one of the reasons I am not a big fan of the movie Though I can truly say it's been YEARS since I saw it.

superspaceboy said:

i liked the video when it first came out, but MTV played it into the ground and i got really tired of it over the summer of '87. i can appreciate it again now, but it's not one of my more loved prince videos either. it's not bad, though.

You know what's funny about all this is that Prince wouldn't let MTV play his "Sign O' The Times" video (back then he attracted viewers) after they had decided Jill Jones' video "Mia Bocca" was too racy for their channel. Like there was anything special about the SOTT video anyway, eh? And Jill Jones' video is nothing compared to the sleaze they play today. This was the beginning of the love-hate relationship between Prince and MTV.
[Edited 6/29/05 19:42pm]

this is what he should have done:



hey, how come my INX'S Mediate video pic isnt showing?
[Edited 6/30/05 8:39am]

Snap said:

it wasn't sleazy at all, unless they were just going by the lyrics - which by today's standards are nothing...i can't imagine how they'd even be that risky back then.

maybe it was the boy who was checking her out?
but even then, Madonna got away with that in the "Open Your Heart" video

thesexofit said:

Prince is a horrible actor, he'd ham it up so bad, like remember in GB when he dragged his guitar away after Tick Tick Bang performance in the street?

"Screw you guys I'm going home!"

Did WB force that video out the way they did that with When 2 R In Love?

But... the video did have amazing grpahics. At least by 8-bit standards. That font was really sharp.

Novabreaker said:

Why so many hard critics ??? I think, he tried to be MORE focus on the lyrics, this is why he made this video...

krayzie said:

i think as a lead-off to a double album that was his first post-revolution release and a follow-up to a failed movie, he coulda done something more ambitious. but then again, he IS prince....

...and anyway, it's not like the single suffered. i believe it went top ten on the charts, right?

Anxiety said:

graphics then if not grpahics. Agree now?

Novabreaker said:

re-