For some reason, I can't embed videos through the Chrome browser that I normally use so if any of you are having the same issue, please let me know.

Having said that, this is one of my favourites since it is fondly associated with a good friend of many years ago. I also love other Blue Rodeo songs/videos.

If you see an advert at the beginning, sorry - it was the best quality version I could find.

reminds me...

ruh roh, cannot embed... help?

Great idea Motheroffive!

For SG and others, here's how I embed a video here:

1) Go to Youtube and find favourite video

2) Click "Share" then "Embed"

3) Click "use old embed code"

4) Right click on highlighted material and click "Copy"

5) Return to Wondercafe

6) Click on Input format (above save and preview buttons)

7) Click on "Full HTML"

8) Right click on body of text (box that you type in) and click "paste"

9) Click "save."

10) Voila - the video is now posted!

Edited to delete instructions that I prepared but forgot to hit "send" so somegalfromcan beat me to it.

Love the song, too, SG.

 I have so many favourite music videos that I will just post a small sampling here to start:

These first three make me giggle:

The next videos are ones that I love for their beauty:

This final one is one that I love for its' social message:

Fun fun! Mother o five!

Here's some of my favorite music videos, for their artistic merrit and the depth that they add to the songs. They are also some of my favorite songs.

First, Depeche Mode, Enjoy the Silence. Such grandeur in the music, so the singer is a king, as we are all the kings of our own inner kingdoms, and he is searching for the perfect vantage point to sit and contemplate, the ongoing journey of life, thought and reflection. The title of the song is not in the lyrics, which is an oxymoron, and increaces the meaning fo the song. I think it refers to inner silence matched with the outer silence of the world, the quiet mountains, the whispering breeze, the passing of time. "All I ever wanted, all I ever needed is here in my arms. Words are very unnecesary, they can only do harm."

Kate Bush, This Woman's Work This song and video makes me cry every time I see it. Kate and her crew have created a masterpiece with this, all about the indescribable emotions of being a woman and understanding her man's feelings, and the difficult time of any kind of medical emergency but especially birth. I don't know if that description does it justice, I'm tearing up as I think about it.

Sigur Ros, Glosoli. I love this video for the wonder and wildness of childhood it encapsulates, and the ideal dress up clothes I would have flipped for when I was a kid, and all the beautiful earthy young faces, and the wild wonderful Icelandic landscape I've never seen in real life, and most of all for the ending, which I'll let you watch rather than try to interpret myself.

Thank you, Eleanorgold - all good choices. I haven't watched many music videos or kept even relatively current with music so all three were new to me. I, too, was quite captivated and moved by the Kate Bush one.

This is one that's also powerful for me, especially now that I'm entering a stage in my life when coming to terms with my nostalgia and regret. I know the song very well and have never viewed the video before today - it's a beautiful visual interpretation.

Thanks Mo5. I have watched a lot of videos growing up, and watch many on Youtube now, but I am no longer current with what's popular today, though I know a few groups. Vidoes used to be the main way a person became aquainted with a band, now I hear abotu bands through the radio or magazine articles hubby reads, or recomendations from fans of other groups I like. I look up the videos as a secondary thing. But I have also kept lists of my favorite videos over the years.

I know Fields of Gold the song very well but have not yet seen the video either. I really enjoyed watching the Blue Rodeo one. I had not heard that before, and it moved me too. Great song. I always liked Diamond Mine but never got into them as a band.

Here's a couple more I really like:

Bjork, Joga. This video is about her connection and love for her homeland, how it is inside her and a part of her. I understand that connection to the land, and also how our inner self is as big as the landscape. I also love the song, it's swirling violins, and electronic pulses. I grew up in an era with classical and electropop and new wave, so this fits nicely for me. Bjork has done a lot of beautiful videos.

Bjork, It's Oh So Quiet. This is such a well choreographed and amusing video by her. The song doesn't have personal significance to me, but I love the video. It's so retro-modern and fun and just perfect. I love her naturalness and the dancing. It makes me happy.

Alphaville, Middle of the Riddle. I was knocked sideways by this video. It's so unconventional and so philosophical. It consists of these puppetmen on a floating platform who all want the treasure in the chest, but no single one of them can have it unless they co-operate, but being human, they don't.  At the end there's only one left, and he can't get the treasure. Really makes you think.

Mo5 I enjoyed Sting's video, nice, evocative effect. Perhaps if this thread were in pop culture it would have recieved more attention so far. ?

Where's Mendalla's faves?

I'll just mention Kate Bush's Cloudbusting, as I've already posted 6. That's one of Jian Gomeshi's favorites too.

Here is a song I much appreciate presented in a manner that gives the lyric a remarkable depth.

The following video evokes in me deep feelings of solidarity with all those odd souls who undertake the struggle for justice as the way towards the hope of one world.

Both are fabulous choices, GF. I know every word on that Crash Test Dummies album but have never seen any of the videos - so thanks. The message is even more powerful...

Eleanorgold, I loved all 3 of the last videos. Although I've heard lots about Bjork, I haven't sat down and really listened or watched her material. It's Oh So Quiet is really fun. Yikes, Middle of the Riddle's kind of where the world's at these days - very vivid imagery!

I'm hoping that perhaps other types of music videos will be posted - maybe an opera piece, for example...???

for some reason, i'm not allowed to imbed, so i'll just post the link.  all you have to do is click on it....

my favorite is 'crazy', covered by alannis morisette.

this one you won't understand until the very end, so you kinda need to watch the whole thing first.  a very powerful message, delivered in such a unique way... i can't even really discuss it.  but the music is SO WELL DONE... i loved the origional by seal, but man alanis just nails it with that grungy whiney voice of hers.  very well covered.

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my next favorite video i won't even link to- the images are gross, pornographic, graphically violent and simply not a video that anyone under 18 and without a strong constitution should watch.  yet, like most of my favorite art, it uses all this to deliver a powerful message to pose a question that not many people will be comfortable contemplating....

'smack my bitch up' by the prodigy was pretty much banned on sight by everyone based on the title alone.  when i first heard the name of the song, i totally disregarded it as something i would hate.  then i heard it on the soundtrack for 'charlies angels'... they had taken what i felt was a very mysogynistic song and turned it on its ear by making it the soundtrack to the three powerful women kicking a guys ass.  i kinda liked how they did that, and so i attempted to watch the video.

after clearing a multitude of firewalls and filters, i was finally able to see the original video that the prodigy wanted.  i was completely unprepared for the level of violence and pornography that i saw, but thankfully i watched it all the way to the end, and then BAM. 

i am going to tell you about it, simply because i don't think that anyone really should watch that video unless you are prepared for the graphic nature of it.

it begins with a person waking up in a small apartment.  it is shot from the point of view that you are looking through the eyes of the person, kind of like playing 'doom'.  the person gets up, goes to the bathroom, drinks a shot and then snorts a few lines of coke.  he leaves the apartment and goes to a nightclub.  there, he tries to molest every woman he sees, downs a bottle of wine, and goes into the bathroom, where he pukes up blood in the sink, then goes into a stall and shoots up.  when he comes out, he starts dancing, falls, then wanders over to a corner and pukes on the floor, at which point the bouncer comes and throws him out. 

through all this, the pounding music plays... the only lyrics you hear are the repeated 'change my pitch up... smack my bitch up'  its terrifying.

the guy wanders down the street a bit and then turns into a strip club.  once there, he sits down in front of a stripper who puts on a show, and then invites him to her dressing room, where they make out for a bit and then head back to the guys apartment... the one we saw at the beginning of the video.  once there, the guy snorts a few more lines of coke, has sex with the stripper,  and the stripper then leaves. 

at this point, the guy looks in the mirror... and you see that IT ISN'T A GUY YOU HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING... BUT A WOMAN.  a blonde, attractive woman.  as she looks at herself, she passes out and the video fades to black.

its so jarring, and it really turns your whole outlook on its head...

--- first and foremost, why did you assume that the title of the song referred to a man assaulting a woman?

--- why did you assume that the person you were following in the video was a man, not a woman??  ( i know that i presupposed this for you in my description of the video, but trust me... if you were to watch it, you WOULD assume that you are following the point of view of a man.  it is absolutly convincing right until the end, and was shot to be that way.)

--- does it make all the actions even a bit more acceptable because it was a woman??

--- why do you feel differently about what you just witnessed because it was from the point of view of a woman and not a man??

--- what role does our obvious bias towards assuming heterosexuality play in all this??  personally, i doubt that even the greatest lgtb activist among us brave enough to watch this video from beginning to end would even consider that it might be a woman in the lead role and not a man.

it is simply a brilliant video, which really brings out your biases... it is ugly, gross, horrifying, disturbing... but at the end of the day, it is only because of that that you are forced to look at yourself and realize that you aren't as accepting of males as you think you are, and that gender stereotypes are alive and well, no matter how accepting we may think we are.

Turn your volume settings up, close your eyes and be transported.... 

Grrr

Let's see if this works, this time

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Nope, but it is my fav song

Well, I'm presently loading something else, but I will keep the page up and load the other videos posted, though I won't look up the Prodigy one.

You've described it pretty well Sighs, and pondered the audience's reaction very thoroughly. Well yes, it makes me think too. I don't think women and men are the same. Men have the equipment that makes them dangerous, that's the main difference I think, plus our hormones and brain functions being different, and that we are generally weaker and more delicate. It's true, when you said it was a pretty woman, my feelings changed. I wondered what had been so bad in her life to turn her into this self destructive creature. My feelings for the male version were pretty bad indeed, but for the woman, I felt even a small wish to help her, though I don't think I would want to help an ugly man in that situation. I'd probly want to throw him in jail.

For a classical video I really like Kathleen Battle in this, so free and quiet and beautiful. Like a soaring spirit, trusting, beautiful, loving life. She's also one of my favorite female vocalists. I have no idea what the song is about.

its not something that just anyone should watch.  it is a very difficult and ugly video to see.

besides, i had to jump quite a few hurdles to actually find the origional uncut and uncensored version.  it might be easier to find now, i dunno... i saw it years ago.

... come to think of it, that speaks again to how powerful the video is, that i saw it so long ago and it still has such an impact on me that i can remember it so vividly...

wow... i hadn't even contemplated the whole 'pretty vs ugly' thing there... good catch.

Elanor: that's beautiful! (Kathleen Battle)

SG, did you not switch back to "rich editor" after cutting and pasting your embed code in plain text editor?

There's a video I saw about ayear ago that stuck with me, one by Einsturtzende Neubauten. It's about German people's guilt over the holocaust. He looks in the mirror and sees a pig/monster, and colours of the german flag keep apprearing on his face. Again not pretty, but thought provoking, especially for those with German herritage.

Enjoyed the Alanis one Sighs. I even watched it a second time to be clear what had happened and read three pages of the comments. Thought provoking.

SG, I enjoyed your lovely dovey hippy vid too! Lots of long hair lovelies! Quite joyful. I clicked on the link within your embed code. I post videos in a slightly different way to Somegal. When I get to Wondercafe, I type what I want to say, then:

-I click "switch to plain text editor"

-place cursor on next available line and paste my code in

-switch back to "rich text editor"

-now I see a box with a puzzle piece in it, that's my video.

-hit save. Or you can hit preview, and see what you're going to get and correct it if necesary.

Ok, So I am trying again

Ok, SG, - how did you manage that????

All I get is the link, when I try to post a video (like you, before this glorious breakthrough!)

Please write it out clearly and precisely - numbering it as you go. (and don't leave any step out, this is for a video dummy, remember?)

I wish I could retrace my steps to embed these. It was kind of trial and error, but I used Elanor's instructions. Just preview until you see a video and then save it.

indeed.  i am not sure why, but i enjoy videos that elicit that type of response in me.

i like the video as an art form, something to make you uncomfortable and even a bit defensive like that... to help you question things and grow.

i mean really, as great a video as 'single ladies' by beyonce was, i would rather watch 'praise you' by fatboy slim any day of the week...

i dunno, there is just something kinda uncomfortable about watching this video... its like you are almost embarrassed for the dancers, but can't bring yourself to tell them that they really aren't as good as they think they are??

i dunno. 

PilgrimsProgress,

I first followed somegalfromcan's directions and got the link mess, above.

Then, Eleanorgold saw my mess and tried to help. 

So, from start to finish this is what I did. (it combines the two, but it WORKED!!!!)

Start a post (type a line or two)

1) Go to Youtube and find favourite video

2) Click "Share" then "Embed" (under the video)

3) Click "use old embed code" (under that)

4) Right click on (blue) highlighted material (link in the box) and click "Copy"

5) Return to Wondercafe

6) click "switch to plain text editor"

7) right click and paste in link

8) click to switch back to "rich text editor"

(this is where I see something that is not a video.)

9) hit preview (to make sure I see a video and not gobblygook

10) THEN save.

Yippee!!!!!

This is not the official video, but I adore it more seeing Foy. I have used this song in worship, with one voice and then the choir coming in during the last few verses.

Cool! Lots more videos to watch today! Glad I could help SG. Hope you get it too Pilgrim.

I'm trying to find some classical promo clips, but they don't seem to make them... though I remember seeing one of James Ehnes in his open top car, driving along with Bach playing, his violin music, which is why I went out and bought the cd, but I can't find it. Maybe it wasn't a music video.

I'm going to indulge myself and post another one. Peter Gabriel, The Drop. It's quite short. According to Peter himself, the song is about looking out of an airplane and considdering the fall if one were to jump, not knowing here one would land or what that would be like to fall through the clouds and considdering one's own mortality. To me it ponders the value of each human life in the multitudes of humanity, and compares that to the thought of each possible baby that could come of two people's unity, the harm that can come of something beautiful, and thinking about contraception and the end of fertility and death and meaning. It feels personal to me, and fragile, a small yet huge thought.

peter gabriel is a brilliant artist...  his video for 'sledgehammer' was groundbreaking in its time.

that one, and 'road to nowhere' by the talking heads... the editing alone for those two is applauseworthy!!

Wow on the free hugs Ninj. Tears in my eyes.

And the Libera was really pretty Somegal, and I also got a laugh out of the Weird Al. Isn't he clever!

Yes Peter Gabriel has made many excellent videos. I also especially like Digging in the Dirt a lot. I'll post that later on.

My last attempt before I collapse into a heap of despair............

Yes!!!!

I don't know about teaching an old dog new tricks - but this old bitch managed (finally!)  just fine.

My thanks to all who helped.

Now just excuse me for a moment while I do my victory dance..........

Hey, SG, now that we've mastered this embed thingie - howzabout we tackle the European debt crisis?

(In view of your ancestry you can take on Italy - and I'll fix up Greece.)

Getting back to the video I chose -  I actually bought this original record. They were the good old days, when the lyrics, music and harmony were superb!

Fantastic, everyone! I can't wait to listen to them but can't right now 'cause I sitting beside my sleeping son.

Keep 'em comin'!

'ERASURE' - 'RESPECT - HMI redux'

i've always enjoyed this song... the lyric 'what religion or reason could drive a man to foresake his lover?' is just simple and brilliant.  this particular video features students and staff at the 'harvey milk institute', and is really powerful right now in a world where every week we seem to hear about a gay kid committing suicide because of bullying.

Well my "mouse" is broken and I don't know how to "right click" on my laptop, so I'll have to try to embed sometime later. (Pilgrim and SG you are my idols, LOL!)

If anyone would care to embed these ones for me I would be grateful. I am enjoying everyone's selections.

Cat Stevens

And "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere"

Thanks Eleanorgold!

For Waterfall:

The Free Hugs one reminds me of this one, which makes me all fuzzy inside ; )

And here's Digging in the Dirt by Peter Gabriel. Which follows on in the vein of Sledgehammer (a breakthrough in video awesomeness that inspired many). Digging in the Dirt delves into the psychological, what made us the way we are, something we all need to do, to understand ourselves, and I love the earthy imagery, from flowers to maggots, that's what is, and likewise inside we have things gnawing at us, and things blooming in us. So this video is beautiful. But I do wonder how the heck did they get the maggots eating the hand shot...? Don't worry, it's not too gross, you can all handle it.

Praise You was reallly cute, reminds me of a video by OK GO where the band are all doing this routine on treadmills, and another one: I'd Rather Dance With You by The Kings of Convienience, which is super cute .

lol!  that 'ok go' one is so cool... such a simple idea, probably cost them less than 100 bucks to make, but just hard not to watch!!

The Nickleback reminded me of Kashtin and such native bands, with the drums, camera spinning around open field, and the yea yea's. I couldn't open the one you posted SG, so I looked it up.

You can certainly see the influence of Sledgehammer on the Talking Heads clip eh?

Congratulations Pilgrim on your success!

I enjoyed the Cat Stevens. I would have felt right at home I think, being young then, as it was I was 2 in '76, and Cat looks a bit like my Uncle did then! But skinnier and handsomer! Nice shirt too!

My favorite gay story video is Small Town Boy by Bronski Beat, so sad, so heart wrenching. I like Erasure too though.

Yeah isn't it great! So clever and cool, so fun to watch.

Gotta post another of my favorites I just discovered is now available on Youtube. I looked for it once before and it wasn't there. It's a fun clip from my dance days (but it's not a techno song), and it's all about getting away from it all: "Take me away, release me from the pain. Let's go Freeeeeee yeah!" SO happy. And man, makes me want to dye my hair red and dance! Heck, this might bring some of the guys into the thread! Also reminds me of some of my friends at high school!

Dee-Lite: Runaway  (embed disabled)

Ah, music video. The art form that was lost almost before it became established. Some favorites of mine have already been mentioned (Sledgehammer) but I'll start adding a few of my own. To kick off, we've had Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel, so let's put them together, shall we? Don't Give Up was not the first time they collaborated but it's a beautiful song and the video captures the changing moods of the lyrics beautifully.

And then Kate herself with one of the "mini-movie" genre of music video. There's no footage of Kate singing the song. Rather it's a 4ish minute movie with the song as both script and soundtrack. She'd done much the same earlier with Cloudbusting (starring Donald Sutherland), but this one isn't as well known so I thought I'd spotlight it. Also, it's a bit of a horror-sf story so appeals to me as a fan of that particular genre crossover.

More later, perhaps.

Mendalla