I remember back to a time when music videos that were deemed “racey” or “disturbing” were kept on the back burner or edited heavily. I remember being totally disgusted once when MTV edited out the word “smell” from Primus’s “Betty’s Big Brown Beaver” and thinking “Man, they are taking censorship WAY too far.” But yesturday, I saw a video that really bugged me. It was the latest from Korn, who I actually like, so I watched it. There were a couple of shots of surgery going on, and I remember thinking “Ewww.” It wasn’t till the final shot where I realized that what they were showing was a C-section operation. What the fuck? Okay, I admit that you can see this type of stuff on the Discovery channel all the time, but in a MUSIC VIDEO? That was just kinda wierd? What’s the most disturbing music video you’ve seen (aside from Aphex Twin’s “Window Licker” Nothing is more disturbing that THAT).
Yup, you’re getting old.
It was a Ministry video for some song or other (“NWO”?), and it showed a kid vomiting in a sink. Ewwww.
I also remember an Unsane video that was nothing but footage of people injuring themselves while skateboarding.
I second that Aphex Twin’s “Window Licker” is the most disturbing thing ever. Ever.
Errr…I was responding to “What’s the most disturbing music video you’ve seen?”
ARGH.
sigh
Well, since I’m here, I’ll ask…what was so disturbing about the Aphex Twin video?
The lead singer of Aphex Twin has an incredibly creepy looking face, and he’s able to keep this freaky grin going for a LOOOOOONG time. He’s also go this habit of sticking his face on everything. So, imagine if you will, the most ghetto-fied beach you’ve ever been to. Nothin but booty dancers in white bikinis, shakin’ their beautiful flab and givin’ it all they’re worth. Now, envision them with his head. Scary. As. FUCK! You can catch a glimpse of him online with a simple google search. You’ll see what I mean.
And originally, you had the right idea with the thread, it is an opinion of what you’ve seen to be most disturbing.
As for getting old…I’m 23!
It’s a little easier to swallow when you see these things for what (I believe) they are…
Being shocking is easier than being creative.
I hate to nitpick (no I don’t), but it’s “Wynonna’s Big Brown Beaver.”
And I have to second the Minisrty video with the kid puking, although I think it was for the song “Just One Fix.”
-Dirty
There’s that thin line between stupid, and clever.
ducks and runs
Can’t remember the artist, but that video of the guy mumbling to himself while walking through a tunnel. And he keeps getting hit by cars, getting up and keeps walking. I know some people didn’t like it because they felt it was mocking the mentally ill. But the scene where he stops and puts his arms out and a car hit him and the car crashes into him and IT crumbles is just such a pay off for me. It was a disturbing video but that’s what I liked about it.
I believe the artist is UNKLE, and the song is Rabbit in Your Headlights.
The most disturbing video I’ve ever seen (worse than Window Licker) is for Songs for Swinging Larvae by Renaldo and the Loaf. It’s available on the Residents dvd Icky Flix, and basically involves a kidnapping and a lot of nightmarish images. It doesn’t help matters that the song is pretty damn creepy itself.
Disturbing…Check out CRADLE OF FILTH’S unedited verson of “From The Cradle To Enslaved”. Midgets, amputees, 500 gallons of blood, and heavy S&M overtones. It was directed by Alex Chandon who did Pirverella (sp) and Bad Karma…Drill Bit. You won’t be seeing this on (e)M§TV anytime soon. Other’s to look out for are the unedited versions of “How The Gods Kill” and “It’s Comming Down” by DANZIG
Thanks Darwin’s Finch. Both name and song title had slipped my mind long ago but the video sticks with me.
The most disturbing music video that I’ve seen all the way through has to be that Robbie Williams video where he strips to the bone. yig
Most disturbing in my book would be that UNKLE one already mentioned. Another one which sticks in my mind - I forget the name and the band - had grotesquely-faced little kids harrassing a grandmother in an alley. There was other icky details, but I’ve blocked them from my memory.
Oh, and to address the OP, I don’t think the current crop of music videos are necessarily more disturbing than older videos. Frex, the two above are both quite old.
OTOH, I thought that Robbie Williams video was hilarious. It was done tongue-in-cheek (boom boom!) and while it wasn’t exactly intellectual, it was a little bit clever.
Yet another Aphex Twin video. “Come to Daddy,” I believe. Those grotesquely faced little kids looked so creepy because they all had the lead singer’s face. He’s creepy, and somewhat egotistical, I think, but hey, it’s a good gimic and it works.
And thanks Dirty Earthworm, I hadn’t listened to Primus in a long time. For some reason, Betty just sounded right.
That Rolling Stones video where the studio slowly fills up with soap suds while they’re lip-synching their hearts out. I still have nightmares about that. 
Nine Inch Nails - Pinion
(for those who’ve never heard it)
The song is about a minute long and essentially consists of a short, simple, fuzzy ascending guitar riff fading in and repeated over and over and over until it’s at full volume. While it’s fading in, ambient, unidentifiable albeit creepy sound effects fade in with the guitar, until it’s at full volume, at which point the guitar riff plays through once or twice, and then the song ends.
The video:
The camera starts with a camera going into a bathroom. It moves towards one of the toilets, and looks down. The camera zooms closer and closer until it’s going through the sewer pipes, following the water (you don’t see any waste, thankfully), and just keeps weaving through and through. At the end of the song, it shows the outside of the pipes as the feed into the facemask of a restraintive metal bodysuit that is shaking violently and spraying water out of its very few openings.
The last shot is immediate and made my heart skip a bit the first time I saw it.
Although I know must NIN fans would go with Happiness in Slavery. That one isn’t so much disturbing as just plain gruesome.