If you tuned in to MTV for a while in 2001, you almost certainly saw Christopher Walken flying through the lobby of the Los Angeles Marriott Hotel. It was a strange sight even in an era when discussions about music videos were much more heated than they are now. Walken's neat shock of gray hair matched his gray suit, accented with a red tie. He looked less like a movie star and more like some guy on an extended stay.
The music was “Weapon of Choice” by Fatboy Slim, a weird little song that really made you want to dance. Walken, who trained as a dancer in his youth and did much of the tap work and more on “Pennies From Heaven” (1981), was well equipped with the concept created by video director Spike Jonze. A man who was hanging out in the hotel lobby heard the song and started dancing, then flew up to the mezzanine and eventually returned to his seat. The video became a hit, winning several MTV Video Music Awards and a Grammy Award.
The lyrics to “Weapon of Choice” by Bootsy Collins are severely distorted. The point is not the words, but the hypnotic beats. But if you listen closely, you can hear the lines: “Walking without rhythm/And it won't attract bugs.”
Yes, that's a reference to 'Dune'.
In Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, giant ancient sandworms living beneath the desert of the planet Arrakis are extremely dangerous to humans, but their powers can be harnessed for travel and other purposes. They're one of the most famous elements of the story, so instantly identifiable that they were made into questionable popcorn buckets for the release of Denis Villeneuve's new “Dune: Part Two.” And because they are attracted to the rhythmic thudding of the surface, the Fremen, the people who live in the desert of Arrakis, take strange, slow, arrhythmic steps to avoid accidental detection.
In the video, Walken appears to imitate these steps.
These lyrics also appear: Of course it could mean anything.
do not be surprised
with the tone of my voice
Check out my new weapons
weapon of choice
But it certainly would make sense if it was a reference to “The Voice” (or is it THE VOICE?), a powerful vocal distortion that the mystical sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit use to control people in “Dune.”
All of this was a fun reference point when the first Villeneuve adaptation of 'Dune' hits theaters in 2021. But in “Dune: Part Two,” things get a lot more interesting. In the new film, the role of Emperor Shadam, who engineered the extinction of House Atreides, technically making him the baddest of villains, is played by Walken himself.
coincidence? maybe. gleeful? totally.