Synopsis

The video opens with a solitary man lying on a couch, establishing a weary, unsettled mood. It then shifts between staged performance footage and surreal, rain-soaked imagery, with Smash Palace playing against a purple-toned backdrop. The visual treatment matches the song's emotional tension: isolation, romantic uncertainty, and the feeling of being caught between conflicting states. The band's energetic performance contrasts with the subdued narrative fragments, giving the clip a distinctly polished yet atmospheric mid-1980s MTV style.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed on August 27 and 28, 1985, at Club Lingerie in downtown Los Angeles. The production records list Steve Golin and Joni Sighvatsson as producers, David Bridges as cinematographer, Cyndi Sowder for art direction, Patti Callicott for styling, and Scott Chestnut as editor.

• "Living on the Borderline" was Smash Palace's first single after signing with Epic Records. It appeared on the band's self-titled 1985 album, released in the fall of that year.

• The clip received MTV exposure and was listed in Billboard's October 26, 1985, programming report, where it appeared in light rotation.

• Brian Butler's purple suit and large 1980s hairstyle became memorable visual details of the clip. A 2013 profile noted that students were surprised to discover their art professor in the video, where he appeared as the band's lead vocalist.

• The band's name was borrowed from "Smash Palace," a New Zealand film about a junkyard. Stephen Butler chose it after seeing the title in a TV Guide while the group needed a name for a club booking.