Synopsis

P.M. Dawn perform the dreamy, genre-blurring hit in a sunlit, beachside setting surrounded by clear water and hazy, psychedelic imagery. Prince Be and DJ Minutemix appear amid shifting colors, soft-focus shots, and surreal visual effects that mirror the song's reflective mood. Rather than following a conventional narrative, the video creates a floating, memory-like atmosphere. Near the end, Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet appears, linking the video directly to the source of the song's best-known musical element.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video premiered in August 1991, accompanying the second single from P.M. Dawn's debut album, "Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience."

• Tony Hadley's appearance is a notable crossover moment: his band, Spandau Ballet, recorded "True," the song sampled for the central melodic hook.

• The track also incorporates elements associated with the Soul Searchers' "Ashley’s Roachclip" and Bob James' version of "Take Me to the Mardi Gras," giving the polished pop-rap production a layered sample collage.

• "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" became P.M. Dawn's only No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also the first song to reach No. 1 after Nielsen SoundScan was introduced to the chart.

• The lyric mentioning Christina Applegate plays on the hook of A Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebum," adding another pop-culture and hip-hop reference to the song's collage-like writing.

• The video's soft-focus beach setting and psychedelic color treatment helped establish P.M. Dawn's image as an alternative to the harder-edged rap styles that dominated much of the early 1990s.