Synopsis

David Bowie performs "As the World Falls Down" in a dreamlike blend of monochrome studio footage and scenes from Labyrinth. The video follows mysterious copies of Bowie through an office building, where they appear to enchant a young woman played by French actress Charlotte Valandrey. Clips from the film connect the imagery to Jareth and Sarah's romantic masquerade-ball sequence, giving the promotional film a softer, more reflective mood than Bowie's more theatrical Labyrinth video for "Underground."

Factoids & Trivia

• The song was written for Labyrinth's ballroom sequence, in which Jareth and Sarah dance at a lavish masquerade. Its melody also appears earlier in the film as the tune played by Sarah's music box.

• Bowie described the song as the prettiest and most relaxed of his contributions to Labyrinth. He wrote five original songs for the film in total.

• The video was prepared to support a planned single release in late 1986. That release was canceled, and the song remained primarily associated with the Labyrinth soundtrack.

• A shorter 3:40 edit was created for the proposed single. It was eventually issued as a bonus track on the 1995 reissue of Bowie's Tonight album.

• Although the single campaign was abandoned, the video later became available through Bowie - The Video Collection in 1993 and the DVD edition of Best of Bowie in 2002.

• The office sequences use repeated images of Bowie, creating a photocopied, slightly surreal version of the romantic fantasy established by the film footage.

• The video helped extend the visual world of Labyrinth beyond the movie itself, combining Bowie's performance persona with the film's characters and imagery rather than presenting a conventional standalone performance.