Literal Music Videos are music videos in which the vocals are replaced with a Gag Dub describing the action occurring on the screen. Alternatively, a music video where the images literally display all of the action described in the lyrics.
"Remix" examples:
- Africa
(Audio only)
- Attack on Titan opening theme
- Babs Seed
- Billie Jean
- Bad Apple!
- Birdhouse In Your Soul
- Blue (Da Ba Dee)
- Non-video example: Lee Evans does a sketch to "Bohemian Rhapsody" in which he literally mimes the events described in the song
as one of his signature pieces. He often performs it as his encore.
- Daydream Believer
- The YouTube channel Eddie at The LMV inverts the trope with their animated music videos. To name a few, there is She's Kinda Hot
by 5 Seconds of Summer, Doo Wah Diddy Diddy
by Manfred Mann, and Need You Now
by Lady Antebellum.
- For The First Time In Forever
- Friday
- Girlfriend
- The Goof Off
- Grenade
- Hard Times
- Hello
- Hooked On A Feeling
(with David Hasslehoff!)
- I Believe In a Thing Called Love
- I'd Do Anything For Love
(Audio only)
- Ik Ben Verliefd Op Jou
(Dutch)
- I Want To Break Free
- Just A Friend
- Kiss You
- Let It Go
- Like A Prayer
- Literal Pants
- Love
is a Battlefield
- Love Is an Open Door
- The Madness of Duke Venomania
- Making Love Out Of Nothing At All
- Never Gonna Give You Up
(yes, there had to be a Rickroll)
- Oasis
- 1+1
- One-Punch Man opening theme
- Pokémon: The Original Series theme
- The Rainbow Connection
- Ritme van de Regen
(Dutch)
- Safety Dance
- Separate Ways
- Smells Like Teen Spirit
- SpongeBob SquarePants theme
(an official Station Ident from Nickelodeon).
- Stop The Bats
- Sunglasses
At Night
- Take On Me
(The Trope Maker)
- This Day Aria
- Total Eclipse of the Heart
- Under the Bridge
- Video Killed the Radio Star
(inverted)
- The Way To Your Heart
- We Didn't Start the Fire
- We Made You
(inverted)
- What My Cutie Mark Is Telling Me
- White Wedding
- With Arms Wide Open
- Wonderwall
- You're Beautiful
"Non-Remix" examples:
- Non-remix example: Dermot & Dave's Eurovision Song
, whose lyrics consist entirely of Lampshade Hanging on songwriting clichés and random imagery ("Calculator Bear!")
- The Family-Ness: the entire theme song.
MacTout blows on his bagpipes,
whilst Elspeth & Angus watch those notes go floating across the waves.
- A gag in A Touch of Cloth II involves Jack going into a Bad Guy Bar with cliched rap music playing on the soundtrack. The rapper, however, just describes what's going on as the characters Team Power Walk through the bar, even commenting on the Male Gaze sexism.
- Vance Joy has "Riptide
", which portrays all of its actions and even a Gag Sub to portray the Word Salad Lyrics to a T.
- Tobuscus gives us the literal Skyrim trailer
.
- JAMIEvstheVOID's most popular upload, "the dangers of dunking"
has him watch a biscuit that broke off into his tea slowly dissolve to the line "I just wanted you to watch me dissolve slowly" from the song "Dissolve" by Absofacto.