Synopsis

Huey Lewis & The News perform "Hip to Be Square" in a highly stylized performance video that turns the band into a landscape of extreme close-ups. The camera swoops around faces, instruments, microphones, and the singers' mouths, creating a surreal, almost microscopic view of the performance. Rather than illustrating the lyrics literally, the video relies on its unusual perspective, rapid movement, and playful visual distortion to give the polished 1986 pop-rock single an experimental edge.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was shot through an endoscope, a fiber-optic surgical camera normally used for medical examinations. This technique produced its trademark insect-like viewpoint and exaggerated close-ups.

• The unusual visual approach was recognized with a nomination for Most Experimental Video at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards.

• "Hip to Be Square" was released in 1986 as the second single from the album "Fore!"

• Huey Lewis later explained that the song was intended ironically. He originally wrote the lyrics in the third person, but changed them to the first person because he thought the joke would work better.

• The song gained a new layer of cultural visibility after appearing in the 2000 film "American Psycho," where Patrick Bateman discusses the band before attacking Paul Allen.