Synopsis

Ivan Doroschuk wanders through an English village and surrounding fields, where he encounters a lively procession of Morris dancers, a maypole celebration, a Punch and Judy show, and a mischievous jester. Along the way, he dances with a mysterious blonde woman and joins the villagers in the video's distinctive arm movements. The pastoral scenes eventually give way to more surreal imagery, including a mushroom cloud, creating a playful but faintly rebellious fantasy that contrasts with the song's electronic new wave pulse.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in West Kington, a village in Wiltshire, England, giving the clip its unusually authentic medieval-folk setting.

• Its visual world draws on British folk-revival traditions, including Morris dancing, mummers, Punch and Judy, and maypole dancing.

• The Morris dancers were members of the Chippenham Town Morris Men.

• Ivan Doroschuk is the only member of Men Without Hats who appears performing in the video. The rest of the band is represented through the song and the album imagery.

• The small jester is played by Mike Edmonds, a British actor known for roles in films including Time Bandits and Return of the Jedi.

• Edmonds wears a shirt displaying the cover of Men Without Hats' album Rhythm of Youth.

• The blonde dancer called Jenny was a mystery to viewers for decades. She was identified in 2013 as Louise Court, who later became a prominent British magazine editor and publishing executive.

• Doroschuk and other performers repeatedly make a stylized "S" shape with their arms. It is generally understood as a visual reference to the word "safety."

• Although the video ends with nuclear imagery, Doroschuk explained that the song was not specifically an anti-nuclear statement. Its broader target was conformity and authority.

• The video uses the shorter 2:47 single version of "The Safety Dance," rather than the extended dance mix heard on some album editions.