Top 10 What Were They Thinking Music Videos

It has to asked: what the hell did we just watch? Critics have labelled it as embarrassing, lazy, ridiculous and even outright racist, and that's certainly a start. Avril seemingly mocks Japanese culture, stereotyping its people as sushi loving, candy munching, cupcake gorging, selfie obsessed individuals. We have to wonder if the backup dancers were told to remain emotionless, or if they just genuinely didn’t want to be there. The overly blinding colour, generic dance moves, and fake cupcake overload are enough for any sensible person to question just what exactly the point of this video was.

The fact that we have to wait 45 seconds for some actual music in this video is the first of many debatable production decisions. For some reason we're treated to an awkward montage of windows, the word “sex” in huge letters across the screen, and a bunch of women striking “suggestive” poses. It doesn’t improve. Paul Stanley dancing without a guitar is just awkward and somewhat comedic. It’s a leather filled, hilarious four and a half minutes, and certainly one of the most forgettable videos that the band has to offer.

This video is one big mess. It’s been labelled as the worst video of all time, which doesn't say much for Joss Stone's chops as a music video producer. Seemingly shot on an iPhone and edited whilst under the influence of something, we frankly just can’t put some of the video’s images into words. There’s a wedding, and then everyone has guns, and then Joss Stone becomes a cop? Don’t get it? You're not alone.

Holy '80s. When you’ve got a song as catchy and upbeat as this, you probably would want the video to look as authentic as possible. Instead, the video uses excessive amounts of green screen and features endless stock photographs while footage of iconic city monuments and locations are virtually slapped in there willy nilly. Whoever had the idea to not actually film at any of these places has us seriously confused as they missed a huge opportunity. Also, those random groups of people who freeze in front of the camera verge on freaky.

Combining two of the greatest musicians of all time into a music video could only be a good thing, right? Well... so so wrong. Bowie and Jagger dance as if they've consumed something a little stronger than Diet Coke. The video's production values are as unimaginative as they are non-sensible. They dance inside, they outside, then they dance inside again, and then back to outside. Did the director mean for this video to be so hilarious? Who knows?

It’ll leave you shocked from its beginning, and might leave you disgusted or just very confused by the end, if you managed to get through it of course. She seems to be tripping, after all Miley has made it clear from the beginning that she’s busy smoking pot. From vomiting and regurgitating glitter, smoking, sprinkles among a weird orange goo, and milk that goes everywhere, we just don’t get it all. You see nothing but her face, specifically her vomiting, spitting, smoking mouth. It’s a glittery mess that is both uncomfortable and awkward to watch.

Whoever let the boy band that is named after a steak sauce cover this '80s classic should be fired. Immediately. The approach A1 took to this video did not achieve even a tenth of the greatness of the original. Who ever thought that a cheesy story about four guys teleporting into a computer to fight a virtual virus would be a good idea? What does that have to do with the song? Were they trying to reboot ReBoot? And why are they flying? While we acknowledge that vocally A1’s take on the track was actually quite impressive, the video was not.

It’s been labelled as one of the weirdest videos of the nineties, so there's that. The Edge takes the lead here, but it seems like he didn’t really want to, which is confirmed when he lets Larry Mullen Jr take over. His face goes from being prodded and poked, to being licked by women and slapped by a random kid. Edge is then tied up, has some weirdo's feet that caress his face and he’s randomly thrown flowers for an unknown reason. None of these things make sense, leaving the whole clip to be very confusing as everything that happens seems completely out of place.

Didn’t know David Hasselhoff had a singing career? Well, here is confirmation of it in the most confusingly bizarre way possible. The editor of this music video is obviously not a fan of the Hoff, as he’s made to look like an awkwardly placed floating body that pops up among scenery here and there. It’s hard not to laugh, especially when he starts flying and doing flips in the air. It’s one big sandwich of randomness and downright hilarity and one of the most bizarre releases in pop music history.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions.

“Do What U Like” (1991)
Take That

“If I Only Knew” (1994)
Tom Jones

“Pretty Girls” (2015)
Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea

“Not Myself Tonight” (2010)
Christina Aguilera

Take unnecessary CGI and two of the greatest performers of our time, put them together and what do you get? One enormous opportunity for an awesome music video gone down the drain. The central message of this song is mildly empowering as it encourages us to always consider others well being, but this was not conveyed through the video. Instead, we’re treated to two entertainers dancing among musical notes, while a whole bunch of kids in school uniforms run around, aimlessly. We aren’t quite sure how the video related to the song's message, and that's exactly why it's our top pick today.

Do you agree with our list? Which music video made no sense to you? For more thought provoking top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.