Synopsis

The Church perform in a dark Los Angeles studio as mirrored spheres scatter cold, star-like light across their faces and instruments. The band members appear isolated within the shimmering darkness, matching the song's dreamy and nocturnal mood. Intercut imagery follows a woman moving through New York while carrying a picture frame, creating shifting views of the city and its surroundings. The video favors atmosphere over narrative, turning reflections, fragments of urban life, and staged performance into a surreal visual counterpart to the song's sense of longing.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was produced in 1988 to promote the Church's breakthrough single from the album "Starfish."

• Production reportedly cost around US$100,000, a substantial budget for an alternative-rock video of the period.

• The studio sequences were filmed in Los Angeles, where mirror balls and carefully controlled lighting created the video's artificial night-sky effect.

• A separate strand of the video was filmed in New York, where the production's picture-frame motif was carried through city locations.

• The clip was later included on the Church's video compilation "Goldfish (Jokes, Magic & Souvenirs)."

• "Under the Milky Way" became the Church's signature song, reaching No. 24 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and winning Single of the Year at the 1989 ARIA Awards.