4 Music Videos Inspired by Bob Dylan’s Groundbreaking ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ Visual Art, Filmed on This Day in 1965
· Vice
On May 8, 1965, Bob Dylan and D.A. Pennebaker went into the alley behind London’s Savoy Hotel and filmed one of the first music video concepts. At the time, it wasn’t technically a music video.
Instead, the clip of Dylan holding up cue cards of lyrics to “Subterranean Homesick Blues” was for the intro to Pennebaker’s 1967 documentary Dont Look Back. But the film clip went on to inspire many other musicians and directors. Here are four music videos that pay homage to Dylan’s original idea.
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“Misfit” by Curiosity Killed the Cat
Curiosity Killed the Cat initially released their debut single, “Misfit”, in August 1986. Despite a music video directed by Andy Warhol, the single wasn’t super successful until a reissue in June 1987 sent it to No. 7 on the U.K. charts.
The video references “Subterranean Homesick Blues” for only about 30 seconds, starting around the 2-minute 35-second mark with Warhol standing in a New York City alley holding cue cards.
Vocalist Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot then enters the frame and dances as Warhol discards the cues. But the cards are used for more of a parody than an homage. Each one is blank, and after discarding a few, Warhol just tosses the rest and walks off.
“Mediate” by INXS
INXS never released “Mediate” as a single, but they still made a video for it. Perhaps because it segued from “Need You Tonight”, the big hit on their 1987 album Kick. The music video featured the band members holding up cue cards of the lyrics, mainly focusing on the most important words, all of which ended in “-ate.”
But timing the cards was crucial for this video, as the song was a little more rapid-fire than “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. The band managed, with only a few near-misses. Additionally, in further homage to Bob Dylan, several words were intentionally misspelled, such as “facinate.”
At the time, however, some critics cried copyright infringement instead of tribute. But, as it turns out, keyboardist/songwriter Andrew Farriss didn’t even know about the Dylan video before INXS made theirs.
“Bob” by Weird Al Yankovic
“Bob” is, of course, a classic Weird Al parody, featuring nonsensical Dylan-style lyrics made completely of palindromes. The music video features Weird Al dressed up as Dylan in a short wig, button-down shirt, and vest.
Shot in black-and-white, he tosses away his cue cards in an alley. Al’s drummer, Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz, and frequent video collaborator, Jay Levey, appear in the background. They play the parts of Bob Neuwirth and Allen Ginsberg from Dylan’s video.
“Bob” is really one of Weird Al’s best lyrical imitations, but it’s probably the least remembered from his 2003 album Poodle Hat. Al deserves some sort of award for the sheer Dylan-esqueness of lines like “Ah Satan sees Natasha,” “Do nine men interpret? Nine men I nod,” and “God, a red nugget, a fat egg under a dog.”
“Don’t Wake Me Up” by Margo Price
In July 2025, 60 years after Bob Dylan filmed one of the first music video concepts, country singer Margo Price released the video for her song “Don’t Wake Me Up”. The video featured Price holding up cue cards with her lyrics written on them, just like in “Subterranean Homesick Blues”.
Whereas Dylan stayed in the alley behind the Savoy Hotel, Price traveled with her cue cards. She went everywhere, from a bowling alley parking lot to a horse stable, a field, a bar, a strip club, a graveyard, a liquor store, and even a Waffle House.
Price approached director Hannah Gray Hall with the idea, and Hall researched other artists who were inspired by Dylan’s concept. She said she was “shocked to see how many there were,” and wanted to go ahead with the idea. “It’s like keeping a tradition going,” she added.
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