Synopsis
Tears for Fears perform amid a shifting collage of psychedelic animation, live-action imagery and surreal visual symbols. The video moves through swirling flowers, floating faces, political figures, dancers, animals and a radiant sun, creating a dreamlike world that mirrors the song's hopeful call for social change. Rather than following a conventional narrative, it builds a stream-of-consciousness vision in which nature, humanity and imagination merge. The result is an exuberant, kaleidoscopic celebration of love, idealism and collective renewal.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video combines live-action footage with hand-drawn animation and cutout-style imagery, giving it a tactile, collage-like appearance instead of a polished computer-generated look.
- Animator Joanna Priestley created the Joan Miro-inspired section. The animation was drawn with pencil on paper, transferred to punched acetate sheets and painted with Cel Vinyl acrylics.
- The production was associated with Portland, Oregon, where much of the creative work connected to the video was based.
- A three-inch paper cutout of the sun was used in the video. It was later kept at the production studio as a memento.
- The imagery includes a mandala-like circular design, reflecting the video's interest in spiritual and universal symbolism.
- At the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, the video won Best Breakthrough Video and Best Special Effects. It also received nominations for Best Group Video and Best Post-Modern Video.
- The song's visual style continued the collaborative, surreal approach associated with several other notable videos from the same creative team, including work for Paul Simon and Michael Jackson.