Artist: Daft Punk

Song: Around The World

Year Of Release: 1997

UK Single Peak: 5

Directed by: Michel Gondry

 

 

 

 

Wikipedia: Michel Gondry's music video for the song features five groups of characters on a platform representing a vinyl record: four robots walking around in a circle; four tall athletes (as described by Gondry) wearing tracksuits with small prosthetic heads walking up and down stairs; four women dressed like synchronized swimmers (described by Gondry as "disco girls") moving up and down another set of stairs; four skeletons dancing in the center of the platform; and four mummies dancing in time with the song's drum pattern.

 

This is meant to be a visual representation of the song; each group of characters represents a different instrument. According to Gondry's notes, the robots represent the singing voice; the physicality and small-minded rapidity of the athletes symbolizes the ascending/descending bass guitar; the femininity of the disco girls represents the high-pitched keyboard; the skeletons dance to the guitar line; and the mummies represent the drum machine.

 

 

My take: Probably the best synchronised dancing I have ever seen in a video - I especially love how each set of figures represents a different aspect of the song. This quite rightfully helped Daft Punk explode after the modest success of Da Funk. Still jaw dropping today!

Fabulous first choice.

 

This is one of my favourite videos of all time, I can remember seeing it for the first time on the chart show and finding it absolutely mesmorising. The way the different dancers move in time with the intricate parts of the song is just genius. Also helps that it's one of my favourite Daft Punk singles also, I was absolutely obsessed :wub:

Michel Gondry is my favourite music video director. This is great. Star Guitar is my favourite ever video.

Great song and video, I didn't know it was a Gondry-directed video but in perspective the video is a bit Bjork-esque

 

Great start of their career with Da Funk and Around the World, both the songs and the videos were incredible

Blanca Li was the choreographer. I remember watching her talk about the intricacy of it and the challenge of matching the individual sounds to suitable movements and costumes.