Synopsis

Mark Hollis wanders through London Zoo while images of animals from the BBC documentary "Life on Earth" dominate the screen. He appears detached from the performance, often standing silently with his mouth taped shut as animated symbols move across the footage. The animals, evolutionary imagery, and Hollis' refusal to lip-sync create an unusual visual counterpoint to the song's emotional tension. A second version adds the band performing in front of the original film, exaggerating the conventions the first video deliberately rejects.

Factoids & Trivia

• Two official versions were made. The original is built largely from wildlife footage, while the later version adds newly filmed shots of the band performing in front of the first video's imagery.

• The concept was intended as a protest against routine music-video lip-syncing. Hollis' taped mouth makes the joke especially direct: the singer is visibly present but unable, or unwilling, to perform for the camera.

• Hollis described the animal-focused clip as a film that happened to have music as its soundtrack. He suggested that the footage could theoretically be watched with another record playing, reversing the usual relationship between song and video.

• The small animated sequence at the bottom of the frame moves through symbols associated with evolution, including cell division and the development of animal patterns. It gives the otherwise documentary-like footage an additional conceptual layer.

• The second version preserves the original clip but places the band over it, with deliberately exaggerated and awkward miming. The compromise allowed the label to have recognizable band footage without abandoning the video's underlying satire.