The Cars - Magic

What this video is

Released in May 1984 at the peak of the MTV new wave moment, 'Magic' exists within the Cars' remarkable run of high-concept music videos from the Heartbeat City album cycle — a period when the band became among the most visually sophisticated acts on the channel. The video's walking-on-water imagery functions as a self-aware commentary on the messianic cult of celebrity that MTV itself was helping to construct:…

Why it matters

A landmark example of high-concept new wave MTV video production, 'Magic' demonstrates the Cars' mastery of translating pop songcraft into visual metaphor without literal illustration of lyrics. Alongside 'You Might Think' — which won the first-ever MTV VMA for Video of the Year — it represents…

The director

Tim Pope is a British music video and commercial director who rose to prominence in the early 1980s. He is best known for his long creative partnership with The Cure, for whom he directed the majority of their music videos throughout the decade. Pope…