Battle of the videos

Both of my favorite bands, Duran Duran and Take That, put out their new videos this past week (finally D2...what took you so long?). It's a weird situation for me because, despite my long-lived, deep-seated love for Duran, Take That hold a pretty big place in my heart as well, so objectively it's hard to examine both videos with open and unprejudiced eyes.

Since I saw Duran's first, let's start with them. There are several aspects about the video that I do like...the black and white (which Duran do very well), the simplicity of it, and it fits the song, which I've really grown to absolutely adore. But, at the same time, Simon's weird decision to avoid looking at the camera is just odd, he's usually doing nothing but looking at the camera. I do have to admit though, despite his age, that man's still got it! But anyway, judge for yourself.


Now on to Take That's video. From just a visual standpoint, I found the video fun and cute in places, but the song...I don't get it. What does it mean? The music I like, but the lyrics...just overall weirdness! What is up with my middle-aged bands trying so hard to be youth relevant? I've listened to it a couple of times and I still can't wrap my head around it. I'm also really surprised at the swarm of positive comments about the song itself. Am I missing something?

What do you guys think? I think I'm just getting old.