27. N*E*R*D – Lapdance

I’m an outlaw, quick on the draw, somethin’ you’ve never seen before.

When you see the N*E*R*D video for Lapdance, you don’t forget it. You’re in a dark room and the camera circles around to the right, revealing the band and a gaggle of half-naked girls (including Kelis). There’s a strong light attached to the camera, illuminating the scene. You’re at a hard core party that is verging on an orgy. This isn’t beautiful lighting – the edges of the picture are dark, giving the impression that you are searching around the room with a flashlight. It is a video that feels edgy and it works well with a sinister song.

The version of Lapdance on the official video is the original one, with the electronic backing. This was released in Europe in 2001. We were in Toulouse at the time and nearly bought the album then, but we figured we’d save a few francs and buy it back in the States. When we got home we found that the album wasn’t released in the States. N*E*R*D decided to re-make the album with a live backup band, giving it a much more heavy metal sound. So we had to wait a year or more for it to come out. Well that served us right for being cheap.

Here’s the originial version of the music with censored lyrics and a safe-for-work video.

 

Here’s the redone version of the song. There’s no video, but you could always sync the two clips to watch the pictures from one and the music from the other if you are deft with your hands and into that sort of thing.

And then there’s the explicit version of the video, with the lyrics restored and the porn version of the clip. This is NSFW, unless you work at Toys in Babeland. This currently only has 162 views and it may get blocked soon so watch it quick. I think I sat through about fifteen of those 162 views.

My favourite part of the video? When Pharrell is riding around with his crew on their BMX bikes. Least favourite? The “ooh baby you want me?” chorus singing. They missed a grand opportunity to get rid of that that when they redid the music but they left her in. Couldn’t they at least have used Kelis? She was there, sitting around with nothing to do except watch the band party with the strippers.

Next: 26. Grace Jones – Walking in the Rain

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