we do what we're told

Peter Gabriel's song was inspired by the Milgram experiments, conducted in 1961 psychologist Stanley Milgram at Yale University. Milgram sought to measure obedience and conformity by determining if a participant would demonstrate a willingness to deliver lethal shocks to an individual at the request of an authority figure. In the 18th variation of the experiment, 37 of the 40 participants provided a subsidiary act in administering what they assumed were 450 volts of electricity to another individual, who unbeknownst to the participant, was played by an actor receiving fake electric shocks. Gabriel dedicated "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)" to those who refused to obey the authority figure's instructions. In this music video I juxtapose buttons and signs from our everyday lives with scenes from the way we live, emphasizing the point that we are constantly being told what to do: stop, walk, enjoy, buy, follow, like, join, play. These are all in fact commands, which we willingly obey, with no sense or care for where it is leading us - evident if we just pick our heads up away from the screens and look around us.

In 1961 a psychologist at Yale conducted a series of tests, in which people were asked to deliver lethal shocks to participants, in order to measure obedience to authority. Peter Gabriel dedicated his song to the few who refused to obey. In my music video for the song, In my music video I juxtapose everyday buttons and situations to point to the fact that we are constantly being told what to do, and the consequences of these actions and behavior.

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