Top 100 Best Music Videos of All-Time
5. BITTER SWEET SYMPHONY
THE VERVE
1997
The "Bitter Sweet Symphony" music video was directed by Walter Stern and released on 11 June 1997. In the video, Ashcroft walks down a busy pavement in Hoxton, London, oblivious to passersby and bumping into them. At the end, the other Verve band members join him and walk down the street into the distance. Critics likened it to the 1991 Massive Attack video "Unfinished Sympathy", which has the singer Shara Nelson walking in Los Angeles. The music video was played frequently on music channels and was nominated for a number of awards, including three MTV Awards at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards.
The British comedy band Fat Les released a parody of the video for their 1998 song "Vindaloo", an alternative anthem for England at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In the video, the comedian Paul Kaye, dressed as Ashcroft, walks down the same Hoxton pavement and is mocked by passersby. In 2015, the video was parodied in a television advertisement for Radio X that featured the DJ Chris Moyles walking down a street colliding with people. It triggered 106 complaints from viewers who felt the video was offensive and encouraged antisocial and violent behaviour.
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