Synopsis

Def Leppard perform "Foolin'" on a dramatically lit concert stage while a surreal fantasy narrative unfolds around Joe Elliott. Elliott appears trapped, chained, and pursued through corridors filled with fire and explosions, as a mysterious woman plays the harp with her eyes closed. The band's performance footage is intercut with these theatrical images, creating a dark, dreamlike interpretation of the song's emotional tension. The video's elaborate visuals give the Pyromania-era single a distinctly cinematic, larger-than-life presentation.

Factoids & Trivia

• Filming took place in June 1983 at the Ritz Theatre in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

• Perri Lister, Billy Idol's girlfriend at the time, appears as the harp-playing woman. Her closed eyes inspired a caption on Def Leppard's Historia compilation: "A face without eyes indeed," a playful reference to Idol's song "Eyes Without a Face."

• Joe Elliott later recalled that fireworks used in a narrow corridor scene burned the hair off his arms. He also remembered spending an entire day riding a horse on a beach, despite none of that footage appearing in the finished video.

• A rare "Performance Only" version omits the fantasy material and concentrates on the band's concert-stage footage. It was briefly shown in a 2002 television program about the making of Pyromania.

• Released as the third US single from Pyromania in August 1983, "Foolin'" reached No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on the Mainstream Rock chart.