Synopsis

Three pairs of feet jut from beneath the blankets of an oversized bed, bouncing in time with the Thompson Twins' brisk synth-pop rhythm. Around them, the room becomes an uncanny parade of shifting images and unexpected objects, with the band appearing amid the surreal imagery. The visual style recalls the dreamlike interiors of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the paintings of Rene Magritte. Only at the end, when a nurse draws a privacy screen around the bed, does the setting become clear: the performers are hospital patients.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Lies" was released in 1982 as the first single from the album "Quick Step & Side Kick," titled "Side Kicks" in the United States.

• The single reached No. 67 in the United Kingdom and performed considerably better in the United States, where it reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.

• The track also became the Thompson Twins' second No. 1 on the US dance chart, following "In the Name of Love."

• Tom Bailey described the song as a playful response to the lies circulated by media and politicians. The repeated chorus was modeled on the simple, accusatory chant of children calling out "lies" in a schoolyard.

• The video uses deliberately disorienting imagery rather than a conventional performance setup. Its oversized bed and changing room create a theatrical, dreamlike space before the hospital setting is revealed.

• The song's references to Egypt connect to an inside joke from the album's creation. Bailey's home studio was called Egypt, although the band had not actually traveled to Egypt to make the record.