8: Pale Shelter - Tears for Fears

I'm going back under my towel.

Sorry, go.

No, I'm just going back under my towel.

Hello and welcome to We Can't Rewind, We've Gone Too Far,

a podcast where a Scotsman, an Irishman and a Bulgarian

review the most terrible, silliest and weirdest as fuck music videos.

Hi, I'm Nelly.

Hi, I'm Dave.

Hi, I'm Neil.

Today we're pretending to not be depressed by a song because it's a beat.

This is Pale Sheldr by Tears for Fears.

And that's it. That's the only intro we have for this week.

Total random aside before we've even done the history.

I always quite enjoy songs that sound upbeat

but are actually kind of sad

I know you can't even like I didn't even realise it was sad

up until I was looking into the story

and I was like fuck

can I just say something I've not

looked into that story so

basically it's very vaguely

based on the experience

as children it's kind of

like I can't remember the exact

details but it's basically like

them their parents not being very good

being parents and kind of just

ignoring them and

it's a bit of abandonment

etc etc. I'll try to find the article

I'll send it to you. Oh that's peachy

Initially released in 1982

the song was a commercial failure pretty much

everywhere including the UK. After the

band's success in 83 the song

was given another shot by re-recording

it and shooting a real music video. The video

itself was directed by the wildly successful

Steve Barron and shot in Los Angeles

Barron, an Irish film and

music video director, has under his belts

such film titles as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,

classic, Coneheads,

and the music videos for Take On Me,

also classic,

The Sun Always Shines On TV,

Summer of 69,

Money For Nothing,

Don't You Want Me,

Going Underground,

Africa,

Rosanna,

and wait for it,

Billy fucking Jean.

Barron's work,

for all its intents and purposes,

defines early years MTV.

Hell, this guy was early years MTV.

I was looking at his...

Holy shit.

He's done quite a lot of substantial stuff.

He's had a really good career.

you know if i was if i was steve i'd be pretty happy with what i've made yeah i mean compared to

howie his work is actually like formidable like and it's not it's pretty good like even if you don't

like those videos they're still memorable in kind of almost good way i think it's maybe because uh

steve who's you know he's director and i think a producer and maybe now a writer and uh later stuff

but i think he also done a lot of camera yeah camera work so i think that really uh we'll get

to that later but i think that really shows yeah no absolutely 100% agree with you i'm kind of torn

now because i've well i think i made the mistake of watching this when i was in a bad mood mood

because i really didn't like it uh you know i'm looking at all these going maybe i've missed something

but anyway we'll get to that you're entitled to opinion maybe you don't like something yeah but i

was in a fucking bad mood though so i definitely colored my do you know do you need like three

minutes watched again uh nah fuck it it'll all come back subconsciously it'll all come back uh do you

do the video summary a single sentence the band is playing and shenanigans and shoe around them

and also a crocodile

so what do we think of this uh this video i think you should start with that comment that you saw

like the youtube comment it's kind of what i think about the video this youtube comment from

nevertheless productions uh 99 talent one percent alligator yes yeah so this uh this video starts

with a woman diving into a pool then uh an alligator just comes into the pool for no apparent reason

and shit just starts to go down she's doing some sort of underwater acrobatics and then the alligator

just kind of gives her a fright and she literally goes flying into the sky which i quite enjoyed

that bit yeah i took i i didn't see that until the second watch of it i don't know if you guys

picked up on this but is the the lead singer is he the alligator i thought that as well because he's

the only character that is not shown either from the viewpoint of the alligator or next to the

alligator so i actually saw that as well but then what the fuck does that even mean just after the

alligator scares a woman into the sky there's kind of like a evil dead point of view shot which i

thought immediately was the point of view that the alligator running up to the guy with guitar

then it kind of just goes nowhere i'm pretty sure that's supposed to be the alligator point of view

because the the camera like the lace is kind of wet looking as if it's like wet ice that makes sense

kurt smith i think he's the alligator yeah when it first shows him right he's sort of fixing his uh

whatever he's wearing um you know it looks like he's trying to button it back up and i thought well

did he just climb out of that pole you know why did he just climb out of that pole like maybe i'm

just reading into it too much but i just thought he was an alligator i mean that definitely deserves

being read into so i'm with you on that a quick question what is the difference between the

crocodile and alligator because i've called it a crocodile in every single note i have i don't know

let's ask duck duck go eight ways to tell an alligator and crocodile apart the shape of the

snout location alligators are only found in parts of the us and china whereas crocodiles can be found

across the world crocodiles prefer water which is more saline or salty than alligators and alligators

prefer fresh water but do they prefer

chlorinated water is the question here

yeah which one likes the chlorine

technically fresh toothy grin crocodiles can't

hide their teeth we see the oh that's

interesting yeah we can't see its teeth

so it's an alligator like it's an alligator because

it's quite small crocodiles are fucking huge

there's baby crocodiles

like they're not born five meter

long or however long a crocodile is

if the beginning of the

notes were incorrect please amend in

your head because we're not going back and doing it okay

we'll just call it a water dinosaur

because that's pretty much what it is.

Yeah, that's fair.

But anyway, so after she jumps out of the pole

and he turns into an alligator,

it starts introducing these other characters

in the music video,

which don't really have any connotations.

They don't really tell you who they are.

Does it matter who they are, though?

No.

And you pick up the story threads

about having hope, being disappointed,

then finding a release.

Except they stump an airport with a giant iron.

Yeah, what the fuck is that about?

I think this is when I really started getting annoyed with it

because it's a cool effect and basically,

if people haven't watched it,

go check the show notes if you haven't.

She takes her iron and she puts it down on the iron board

and she burns her clothes or whatever

and then it cuts to them in an airport

and there's a giant iron board burn on the runway,

which is a cool shot.

And also the thing about the paper airplanes,

I'm not sure if we've mentioned that yet.

The kids throw the paper airplane at the window

and then suddenly they're all getting hit by paper airplanes.

So I was thinking, this is kind of a cool idea.

It's almost like the things the characters are doing

are going to affect the band.

But then after that, it just kind of stops.

Does anyone have any idea why in hell was it even there?

Like, was it an airport runway

with a massive, like a giant iron burning sign

that was even smoking?

Was there anything that might have missed?

Because it looks really fucking cool,

but I couldn't quite figure out why it exists.

I couldn't figure out a reason for it unless it was just, I don't know, maybe a reference to something in the band's personal life.

Like we were talking about earlier.

I don't know.

Maybe it's trying to say something like everything's connected in some way.

You know, we're all related.

You know, maybe it's a butterfly effect style concept where, you know, one thing happens and it actually leads to it happening somewhere.

So what have you guys thought on all the small vignettes?

Different snippets of people's stories.

Like you have a traffic police officer.

You have a boy in school.

You have a woman, like a random woman hanging clothes, a random soccer game, and then a woman waking up.

And just kind of very random selection of people and ages.

Well, there's definitely quite a lot of people involved.

I was quite impressed by that.

And I think that's why I made it quite a, for me, you know, an entertaining video.

Because it didn't feel like it was really slow at any point.

It always felt like it was moving forward, always progressing, always changing.

And it actually felt a lot quicker.

And I think the last couple of videos that we've watched, which have been around the same runtime,

I've always felt really long to watch.

But with this, I found it was really easy and it was over quite quickly, even though it was around the same sort of time.

Do you think that maybe it was a bit too many people?

Like for me, yeah, it went fast, but I kind of felt like I was always like whenever I watched it, every time I would just miss something because it was kind of like death forsaken and gone.

Probably, yeah, because I mean, it could have made a bit more sense when it came to explaining its points.

and it's

then again I mean

it doesn't probably

have to have any point

it's a music video

they're allowed to get

away with anything

that's why the

massive iron burn

the crocodile

do we want to talk

about the paper planes

are paper planes

like a sign for salvation

for hope coming

your way

looks really cool

honestly

it does look cool

it's been so much fun

the film

they must have had

some amount of people

throwing paper airplanes

at that point

yeah definitely

or some form of

amazing machine

hundreds

unless there's just

like four or five people

constantly throwing

these things

Probably the kids, actually.

It might be the kids from the school.

I've got the video playing in a loop in the corner

and just every so often I just see him get smacked

right in the fucking eye with that play.

Even see him kind of going like, ah!

Proper jammed in there.

If we see him wearing an eye patch in future videos,

we'll know why.

Is it Ronald?

I think he's the guy who got hit with a paper airplane.

I think both his eyes still work, so.

As far as we know.

I do, actually.

I quite like every Tears for Fear song I've heard.

I've never listened to an album.

I like this song as well.

Yeah, no, they're very listenable.

right now.

Sorry,

go.

No,

they're very

listenable,

that's one.

It's like the

last shot of the

video as well.

It's just bam,

goodbye.

I think the

other bit I was

wondering about

is that two

minutes,

45,

everyone's kind

of looking up

in the sky,

all the different

characters that

kind of cut to

them all looking

into the sky

and they're sort

of like Avengers.

There's an alien

invasion coming

kind of way.

Isn't that the

paper plane

invasion?

It's just one

giant paper

airplane.

Maybe there's

UFOs involved.

That's why they're

all pointing.

That's why they're

all pointing

is actually a UFO landing site.

It's a crop circle.

We'll explain why it's smoldering.

Fresh abduction.

What's abduction?

You know when you get taken away?

Yeah, no, no.

I know what abduction is.

I just didn't hear what kind of an abduction.

Oh, I said fresh.

As in, like, it's just happened.

The ground is smoking and steaming

and someone has just been taken away.

Sorry, no, I just can't understand

your thick Irish accent.

That's okay.

You don't have to.

You just have to nod and be polite.

Everyone else is like that.

Just presume we're all nodding constantly

and can't understand a word of what each of us are saying.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

It's for fears, eh?

People find it hard enough just to listen to me on a good day, so...

You have to put up with Nelly and Dave.

I mean, that's a lot of different things going on in people's ears.

It's just a fucking...

I can't remember the word.

Just said in Bulgarian.

I don't know the word in Bulgarian either.

Neil, you need to understand.

The only time when I speak in Bulgarian is when I speak to my mom.

I speak to my mom like once a month.

I don't know Bulgarian words anymore.

Yeah, I've never heard you speak Bulgarian.

Why would I speak Bulgarian to you?

I don't know, but I'll pass her by or something like that.

I mean, I can.

I can continue this podcast just speaking Bulgarian.

I wonder if we have any Bulgarian listeners.

They might appreciate that.

That translates to get me off this fucking podcast.

Nearly, almost, kind of.

Oh, really?

I actually said, hello, friends.

It's all fucked.

Well, yeah.

That's everything.

Yeah, that is.

I think everyone's looking at the sky because there's aliens.

Why not?

Why not?

The woman who leaps into the air,

maybe she's not leaping into the air.

Maybe she's being abducted.

I want to believe.

Ooh, yes.

It makes as much sense as 5G conspiracy theories.

Don't get me started in those fucking clumpets.

If you believe that 5G caused COVID,

don't listen to this podcast, you're an idiot.

Hot take.

You're really not welcome.

I think aliens are becoming more and more plausible by the second.

I mean, honestly, it's 80s.

Pretty much every single video is about aliens, isn't it?

Like the last episode we did, it was still about aliens, like Terminator, right?

What's the point? Sexy kinky Terminator.

Fifty shades of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Oh, God.

That joke didn't work.

No.

Oh, you worked too well.

Where'd I put my head in scissors?

Well, yeah, I mean, this was the Terminator time, so it all makes sense.

You broke an alley.

I'm sorry, I just lost it.

I know we've got to leave it in.

Okay, do you agree with aliens?

Yeah, why not?

Fuck it.

Aliens.

It's always aliens.

We all know that.

Yeah, I mean, clearly the lead singer is an alien, so trans-morphing alien.

In an infinite universe, somewhere, there is a planet populated entirely by band members

from Tears for Fears.

Nice.

I would have loved to see, like, what kind of music they play there all the time.

I bet it's fucking banging.

If you're a believer of that, then there is a planet of these band members and three of them are talking about this video.

Which is the exact same video.

Oh my god.

Then there is a planet of just us three doing a podcast over and over and over again, but like 8 billion of us.

And that's really fucking scary.

Gonna be another planet where there's a podcast about people reviewing people who review music videos and podcasts.

Isn't that just called YouTube?

Oh yeah, turtles all the way down.

in that world it was called

Sibcast and there was no issues with it

just uh we were originally called

Sibcast because Scottish Irish

Bulgarian until we did the

incredibly basic maneuver of searching

for other podcasts called Sibcast

and there is one. I just want to point out that was

after we'd already like had

registered the email address

and a twitter account

and it was really fucking embarrassing

I recorded four episodes. If you listen

to the first three or four episodes the intros

are in a weird order because we had to cut

new intro so behind the scenes maybe we should start a podcast where we review other podcasts

it would pretty much just be us going oh yeah it's a bit ropey but it's actually

harder than it looks so i forgive them

shall we do our reviews i think we've yeah sure wandering into strange territories now

I am going to say that I actually love this video and I feel it's the favorite so far that we've

watched. My reason for this is I feel it's a bit ahead of its time. It provides a compelling

narrative compared to what we've seen in the previous trash we've watched so far. It's got

alligators, it's got what looks like metamorphosis, possible aliens, and an almost guaranteed blindness

from paper airplanes. That specifically gave me flashbacks because my mom always used to say

no throwing it'll put your eye out and that is anything that could be a paper airplane that could

be sock or a straw it would always take your eye out or put your eye out it was the thing she said

probably still says to this day what kind of socks did you wear did you ever wash them uh yeah yeah

well yeah i think so it was just my mom was fixated about putting your eye out because she

sounded convinced that me and my brother were gonna be blind plot twist we're both able-sided

and all that so totally fine to this day um but yeah i thought the uh the whole composition of the

way it was uh framed and filmed and whatnot felt really modern to me um the camera movement was

slick and fast and the um the rehearsed zoom has provided a really constructive narrative that i

think many videos kind of get wrong um and i think just watching this video and knowing a bit about

how music videos put together i can tell there's a lot of fun to be had um during the making of this

video it just looked like a fun thing to probably be involved in i loved it random aside my favorite

thing speaking of taking riot the favorite thing my mom would always say is that's a disgrace to

everything the dishes aren't washed that's a disgrace but yeah sorry random aside yeah and

initially i didn't like it i still still not mad on it i'm i've definitely softened it a little bit

i was annoyed at it because it seems like it has a bunch of good concepts in it that don't really

go anywhere and there's multiple concepts kind of fighting with each other if that makes sense

never makes sense no but however i kind of realized while i watched it again while we're

having our technical issues i think this is just that this is just a classic sort of case of me

overthinking it because maybe partly because i have to talk about it on a podcast it's a good video

maybe maybe it's not some conceptual wonder but it's a good video for us and it does look like it

was fun to make it's definitely a video that i really enjoyed it did take me several views to

kind of understand what it was about it's not that it's very subtle or not that it's like as

pretentious as other videos we've seen but you actually need to be invested into watching it to

be able to pick up all the parts and i enjoy the story thread of people starting off with hope and

then being disappointed but ultimately finding peace and resolution to the issues and it kind of

quite enjoyed how that went honey-hung with the lead singer kirk smith singing and i can't operate

in this failure when all I wanted to be in completely in command. It was super enjoyable

to watch. You can definitely tell that everyone involved was good, what they were doing. The

direction was good. The acting was good, which you wouldn't really expect from, you know,

musicians always. The camera work was fantastic. So yeah, it was really fucking enjoyable.

I guess a few other parts. I really love that camera zoom that went from the guy with the

paddles and then it just focus pulls to that fucking pan-am jet what looks like a pan-am jet

um i thought that was pretty cool i think this was all shot on 16 mil um that's also why it has a

slightly more modern look to it compared to like the bonnie tyler's and whatnot because they were

shot on video but yeah i definitely love the camera work in it yeah so the worst part i feel

was the possible animal cruelty regarding that alligator where someone throws the acoustic guitar

into its mouth. I can't figure out if that's

a reverse or a forward done

shot. Yeah, that alligator is

curious to me. Aliens. Yeah,

probably aliens. That or someone in a suit.

Have you ever seen a sun

bear? A what? A sun bear

is a type of, well, bear. Best way to describe

it, it looks like a skinny grizzly bear, but

it literally looks like someone

in a bear suit. Like a human in a bear suit.

It just looks so ropey. I think it's

reversed because the guitar kind of

moves a bit weirdly. Hopefully no

alligators or crocodiles were harmed in the making of this movie hopefully not i think my favorite

part is the swimming pool woman just launching into this guy after after she sees the crocodile

because it's actually quite easy to miss i think i missed it the first time i think neil said he

missed it as well there's something funny about the fact there's just some random woman looking

into the distance and behind her you just see so ruby and i think the worst part is the iron burn

mark appearing not because it's a bad effect but because it sent me down a very long chain of thought

which kind of made me overthink the video

that ruined the initial experience for me.

My favourite part was just all the scenes

with paper planes when the lead singer

well sorry, when the band were walking

through that sea of paper planes

but like from that part

my favourite, favourite part was when

obviously the paper plane flew straight into

the eye of the, see the bassist

the guitarist?

The guitarist, the other member

who is not the lead singer

it's just fun, it's incredibly

enjoyable to rewatch it again and again again um and i'm not gonna say the worst part i'm gonna say

the least favorite part because honestly the video is just great fun to look at i'm gonna go and say

probably the swimming lady only because everything else seems to be connected in some way like all the

other small vignettes plays some way related and connected in this lady just like lady in bikini and

an alligator just makes me feel a bit lost honestly well it's from me it's an eye yeah

loved it

yeah

I from me as well

can't decide

you can say no

if you don't like it

no I'm genuinely torn

that's a problem

I'm like

it's a good video

you're lying to be on the fence

it's on the fence

from me

no fence

no fence

you have to be always

always in

absolute

just for balance

I'm gonna say no

because I think it could have been better

that's fair

no good video

but did bad things to my brain

for some reason

so what are we doing next week

I was just looking through the list

We're spoiled for choice

Choose the number between 2 and 53

17

We're already on 17 next

Let's go west

You want to do go west again?

Okay

30

Queen I want to break free

It's a good video

Isn't it a bit too good for us?

I think it might be too good for us

Peter Gabriel's Fledgehammer

That's a shout

That's not the easier one though.

It's a bit insane.

It's a really long video as well, isn't it?

Oh, that's the bad stop motion one, isn't it?

Yeah.

Join us next week

where we'll be watching Peter Gabriel, Sledgehammer.

Thank you.