Synopsis

Savage Garden travel through an arid Australian landscape in a restless, performance-driven video. Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones are seen riding in a car, moving through stark coastal scenery and playing the song at Bombo Headland Geological Site. The location footage is intercut with images of women and energetic concert scenes from the band's Future of Earthly Delites tour, giving the clip a touring-documentary feel that matches the song's agitated, confrontational mood.

Factoids & Trivia

• Two official videos were made for "Break Me Shake Me." The Australian version shows the band performing in a cramped room as the walls gradually close in around them.

• The international version was prepared for the European market and is the version built around the car journey, Bombo Headland and live footage.

• Bombo Headland Geological Site is on the New South Wales coast, near Kiama. Its dramatic basalt formations give the video much of its severe, otherworldly atmosphere.

• Concert footage comes from Savage Garden's Future of Earthly Delites tour, linking the promotional clip to the band's early live identity rather than presenting it as a separate narrative.

• Darren Hayes later explained that the lyrics came from an argument with a close school friend. He described the song as an intentionally dramatic expression of anger, and said the two eventually laughed about it.

• Hayes has also cited Michael Jackson, Prince, James Brown and INXS among the influences behind the song's sound. Although Savage Garden became strongly associated with polished pop ballads, this track foregrounds a harder, funk-rock edge.

• Released in Australia on June 16, 1997, the song became a top 10 hit there, peaking at number 7 on the ARIA Singles Chart. It was later issued in Europe and Japan in 1998.