Emotions are a powerful impetus for creativity, but who needs another song about love or sadness? We’ve got millions of them! Been there, sung that.

But sometimes a writer finds inspiration outside of the realms of the heart — for instance, by seeing something out of the ordinary. Spooky, even.

Jay Kay started his musical career as a one-man operation in London in the mid-80s, writing and recording songs and sending them out to whomever might be receptive. A producer ended up taking one of his songs and proceeded to remove half of the lyrics and alter the sound to match the hits of the day. Kay wasn’t going to put up with this every time he made a song. He started to amass the band who would become known as Jamiroquai and made sure to exercise greater control over his artistic vision.

Things went pretty well after that as Jamiroquai’s debut album leapt to #1 in the UK and their sophomore effort just missed repeating the trick, topping out at #2. They remained an underground band in the US, — mostly known by music geeks and club aficionados — but that was about to change.

While touring Japan in 1995, Jay Kay found himself in Sapporo, famous for its delicious beer and world-class skiing. A recent snowfall had blanketed the city in white, and when he looked out of his hotel window, Kay noticed the streets were eerily empty. The huge city looked like more of a ghost town, as if the entire population had suddenly beamed out of existence. Making his way downstairs, he asked a lady where all the people were. She simply pointed down.

Kay found a sign with an arrow pointing the same way and followed it. Beneath the city he discovered another city teeming with life and lights, thousands of people making their way below the surface like ants or bees or some other busy things. The sights and sounds inspired him to write “Virtual Insanity,” a song about a dark future with everyone forced to live underground.

Released as a single in August of 1996, “Virtual Insanity” exploded up to #3 on the UK chart. While it somehow missed the US Hot 100, the song reached the Top 10 on a number of sub-charts and the innovative video dominated MTV for the next year. A dystopian future never sounded so funky.

So slip the sickly ties….. with Jamiroquai.

Normally I don’t post music videos since I like for the audio to fill up your sensory bandwidth rather than having visuals steal focus, but the video for “Virtual Insanity” is virtually inseparable from the song itself. Fun fact: they made the video using only practical effects, no camera trickery or CGI. Try it at home!