David Fincher: His 10 Most Popular Music Videos (According To YouTube Views)

David Fincher is known for his dark movies and color palette, but that’s a fairly surface-level read of his style. It’s his precision, his economy, his tracking shots, and his rhythmic cutting that defines the Fincher style, and it can all be traced back to his music video work.

David Fincher is one of the best pop music video directors, and the work shows this. He may not get the respect that others do in the industry, but that is probably because he worked primarily with pop stars and worked to make music videos that sold the song, rather than the short art films many others produced. The evolution of the signature Fincher style can especially be seen in “Vogue” and “Freedom ’90.”

10 Nine Inch Nails: “Only” – 10 Million Views

David Fincher uses the innovative style with Nine Inch Nail’s “Only” from the 2005 album, With Teeth. The setting is a typical office desktop: Macbook, coffee cup and spoon, Newton’s Cradle, and, in particular, a pin art box game.

Fincher takes the angry isolation of Trent Reznor’s song and uses the pin art box to illustrate the trapped feeling of the singer and Reznor’s frustration with the music business itself. The antiseptic spareness of the office reinforces that feeling of isolation and of trying to break out of the business culture.

9 The Rolling Stones: “Love Is Strong” – 16 Million Views

The Rolling Stones “Love is Strong” was released in 1994. This is probably one of the Stones’ strongest videos, and the tune is one of the best from their album Voodoo Lounge. The song itself scored high around the world but stalled in the lower reaches of the U.S. charts.

The visual of New York City invaded by the giant Rolling Stones and various models, all walking and romping about, is incredibly well done. The images symbolize the hugeness of the iconic band themselves in pop culture and music history, and Fincher makes the Stones look better than they have in years.

8 Billy Idol: “Cradle Of Love” – 24 Million Views

“Cradle of Love” was from Billy Idol’s 1990 album Charmed Life and was used on the soundtrack for the Andrew Dice Clay movie, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. The song was Idol’s biggest U.S. hit to that date, and the video was in heavy rotation on MTV.

The video features 18-year-old Betsy Lynn George dancing and damaging her neighbor’s apartment in a frenzy of musical seduction. Idol is seen in various paintings showing him from the waist up, singing and encouraging the girl. The visuals are very clever, with Idol popping in and out of the pictures to the beat, contrasting with the increasingly nervous neighbor.

7 Madonna: “Express Yourself ” – 32 Million Views

At the time, this was the most expensive music video ever made, racking up a total cost of $5 million, according to Forbes. The song itself is from Madonna’s 1989 fourth studio album, Like A Prayer, and was one of Madonna’s biggest hits.

The video is inspired by Fritz Lang’s silent classic film Metropolis (1927), with the epigraph at the end of the video from that film. This is Madonna in one of her best roles in the video, with the imagery heavily sexualized and expressive, matching the theme of the song. The character is a woman freely expressing her sexuality and gender identity and not caring what anyone thinks. It’s one of the most innovative music videos of its time.

6 Paula Abdul: “Straight Up” – 35 Million Views

“Straight Up” is off Paula Abdul’s 1988 debut album, Forever Your Girl, and was her third single and biggest international hit at the time.

With her stint as an American Idol judge, it can be easy to forget how talented a dancer and choreographer Paula Abdul is. Fincher directs her here in black and white with her own choreography, using quick cuts that match the shifting beats. Most of the others are in shadow, except Abdul, emphasizing that she’s the focus here.

5 A Perfect Circle: “Judith” – 46 Million Views

“Judith” is from Perfect Circle’s debut album, Mer de Noms, released in 2000. Fincher here focuses on the band itself as they play the song, using an aged and jagged look for the visuals. It’s a more straightforward approach than many of his other videos but suits both the anger of the song and the hard-driving rock of the band.

The song itself is about the singer Maynard Keenan’s mother, who is wheelchair-bound after a stroke. Fincher’s gritty video captures that anger and pain well, and the frustration of the singer at his mother’s situation.

4 Michael Jackson: “Who Is It” – 79 Million Views

From 1992, “Who Is It” is off of Michael Jackson’s eighth studio album, Dangerous. The video features Jackson singing about his pain over a girlfriend who’s left him, holding a metal card labeled “Alex.” Then, the video cuts to someone who must be the woman, an escort who shifts identities between clients, each new identity carrying a metal name card.

Just like David Fincher’s most successful movies, he is telling a dark story here, with the woman being made over for each new identity. She goes from one client to the other with her team of trained makeup and wardrobe artists, ready to transform her again. The video is shot at night, with quick cuts and shadows concealing the faces and actions of people. Fincher often uses black and white or limits color to enhance the mood, and he does that here to great effect.

3 George Michael: “Freedom ’90” – 105 Million Views

Heavy on symbolism, “Freedom ’90” was released as a first as a single from George Michael’s 1990 album, Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1. The song was a major hit for Michael, reaching number eight in the U.S., according to Billboard.

Michael didn’t want to appear in the video himself but had the idea of using supermodels Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford to lipsync his song instead. The song and video are about Michael declaring his freedom from his past, and he had Fincher blow up and burn symbols of his past career, like his jacket, guitar, and the jukebox used on a previous album cover. There is no narrative here, but Fincher makes it compelling with his image choices and editing. Viewers may notice, at one point, the Fincher trademark move of pulling the camera back through a chair.

2 Madonna: “Vogue” – 146 Million Views

One of the most popular and critically acclaimed Madonna videos, “Vogue” was off Madonna’s I’m Breathless album and released as a single in 1990.

The video is a tribute to old Hollywood, shot in black and white and featuring dancers wearing ’30s and ’40s clothing in Art Deco settings. To emphasize the Hollywood connection, Fincher has Madonna posing like the studio art stills of famous movie stars. Fincher likes strong female characters and gives Madonna a great upward hero shot lasting seven seconds — an eternity in a music video. He uses the beat to make his cuts and move his camera, making sure the viewer gets the full impact of the choreography.

1 Justin Timberlake: “Suit And Tie” – 162 Million Views

Called by some Justin Timberlake’s “comeback,” the song “Suit and Tie” was released in 2013 and successfully reestablished Timberlake’s status as a pop star after a six-year hiatus. And after Timberlake turned to acting, making one of his best movies with The Social Network, Justin asked Fincher to direct the video.

Fincher is a master at not only shooting choreography but cutting around the vocals to enhance the song. Rather than a series of quick and random cuts, Fincher lets the viewer see the artist and “hear: the song. He also is great at giving the artist he’s working with an iconic look. Here he’s going for a Sinatra “Rat Pack” vibe, and he succeeds in making Justin Timberlake look like he just stepped out of Ocean’s Eleven (1960).

About The Author

Tom Stewart
(54 Articles Published)

Tom Stewart is an actor, playwright, and writer living in Seattle, WA.

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