Music videos often don’t align with the song at all, (We’re looking at you Maroon 5, my middle school self was so confused), but these music videos were disturbing or thought-provoking for a reason. Except for a few examples on this list of disturbing music videos, there aren’t many that have been made just for fun to incite humourous online discourse. Let’s check out these videos that manage to harrow and concern us at the same time.
Disturbing Music Videos
Turn Down For What – DJ Snake, Lil Jon
This music video features the 2023 Oscar Award winner Daniel Kwan. Also directed by The Daniels, this video features the eccentric tone the Daniels have while also showcasing some serious action and explicit (yet somehow without nudity) sexual content. There is some passionate gyrating and bosoms moving, however, what makes this video truly concerning is that the movement within the frame and the camera shots align perfectly with the musical beats.
While this music video seems and looks ridiculously intense, it is made with a lot of playfulness and innocent energy that takes a while to come across. Now that people know the Daniels and their work especially with their films like Everything Everywhere All at Once and Swiss Army Man, this video seems like a tame beginning for more mayhem and chaos. Stream the song on Spotify.
Dinner and Diatribes – Hozier
Hozier takes on a pretty sinister role in this music video. Along with Anya Taylor Joy, the duo sit together at a dystopic dinner with some poorly curated meat and set of burly guards ready to take out people not complying with the rules. The video also shows Joy’s character being forced into this dinner with a person she either doesn’t know or was not expecting them to be this way. Most likely, this video seems like the textbook definition of what a bad date feels like. Stream the song on Spotify.
This is America – Childish Gambino
What starts off as a normal video with the protagonist in focus, suddenly takes a dark turn towards something incredibly relevant for American audiences. Children and people are gunned down in the video while the perpetrator runs scot-free. It is a direct comment on the way the American legal system treats guns and their subsidiaries in the country, doesn’t matter how much harm they cause to people. There is a lot of interesting audio imagery that moves the song in the direction the artist wants. Stream the song on Spotify.
Bury a Friend – Billie Eilish
This music video speaks about the monster under the bed coming alive. Eilish takes on the role of a beast misunderstood and speaks of the crimes committed against people/things we don’t understand. There are uses of needle and concerning imagery to explore the way we treat things we cannot wrap our head around and the way our darker desires make their way to the forefront when we’re sleeping.
Billie Eilish often uses these kinds of music videos to make a point about common urban myths. Previously, she used an angel to talk about climate change. In that, she uses oil spills and a desolate earthen landscape to talk about the fall of humanity. Additionally, the lyrics also hint to the Earth and God as partners to the Devil because the world has truly lost its charm. Stream Bury a Friend on Spotify.
Highest in the Room – Travis Scott
Perhaps the only music video till now that has shown the viewer the full inside of their mouth. It is one of the most unsettling things to see in the first few seconds of a music video. Not to mention the odd visual effects editing and the more than free use of the female human anatomy in this case to make some sort of a point. There are a lot of fantastical elements involving the protagonist and his obsession with making sure that he is the ‘highest in the room.’ Stream the song on Spotify.
What are some of your favourite disturbing music videos? Let us know in the comments below.
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