Synopsis

In stark black and white, Extreme strip the performance down to its emotional core. Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt sit together and deliver the acoustic ballad with close vocal harmonies and restrained guitar work. The rest of the band gradually appears behind them, silently holding up cigarette lighters as the song unfolds. The intimate presentation mirrors the lyric's plea for love to be shown through actions rather than repeated words. The video ends suddenly, before the recording's final guitar solo and coda.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video deliberately presents Extreme in a much more intimate style than the band's usual funk-metal image. Its black-and-white photography and minimal staging emphasize the song's acoustic arrangement.

• Pat Badger opens the clip by switching off his amplifier and putting down his bass, while Paul Geary sets down his drumsticks. The gesture visually signals that the track will focus on Cherone and Bettencourt rather than the full band.

• The recording's final guitar solo and coda are omitted from the video version, which ends abruptly after the main song.

• A&M Records initially resisted releasing "More Than Words" as a single because it did not resemble the large power ballads dominating rock radio at the time. The band fought for it, and Bettencourt later said he even quit temporarily during the dispute.

• Bettencourt played a black Washburn Woodstock in the video, but that was not the guitar used on the recording. The studio part was played on a natural-finish Washburn with a fuller body.

• The song's unusual acoustic rhythm comes partly from Bettencourt tapping the strings to create a backbeat while fingerpicking. That technique helped make the performance especially influential among aspiring acoustic guitarists.

• In May 2015, Jimmy Fallon and Jack Black recreated the clip shot for shot on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," bringing the video's highly recognizable visual concept back into popular culture.