Synopsis

A painfully shy young man tries to approach a girl while carrying a bouquet of flowers, but every attempt at romance is interrupted by awkwardness and distraction. Around them, colorful figures move through an abandoned industrial setting, including a skeletal dance partner whose macabre presence gives the lighthearted courtship an unsettling edge. Brief, blurred images of The Smiths are layered into the action, creating a dreamy collage that balances the song's pop brightness with an atmosphere of loneliness, decay, and emotional hesitation.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released in 1986 to promote "Ask," The Smiths' twelfth single.

• Its imagery turns the song's theme of shyness into a miniature romantic comedy, while the abandoned warehouse and skeleton introduce a darker, more surreal counterpoint.

• The band members are not presented through a conventional performance narrative. Their appearances are blurred and superimposed, keeping the focus on the fictional characters rather than on the group as performers.

• A version incorporating live performance footage was later circulated. It appears on *The Complete Picture*, the Smiths video compilation released in 1987 and later reissued in other formats.

• "Ask" was one of the Smiths singles that did not appear on a contemporary studio album. The track was later collected on *The World Won't Listen* and *Louder Than Bombs*.