GO-GO’S - THE WHOLE WORLD LOST ITS HEAD

Released: November 1994

Charts:  UK: #29 

Released in 1994 as one of three new tracks on “Return to the Valley of The Go-Go’s”, “The Whole World Lost Its Head” marked a witty and sharp-edged comeback for the pioneering all-female band. Written by Jane Wiedlin and Kathy Valentine, the song channeled the group’s signature buoyant pop-rock sound while pairing it with tongue-in-cheek social commentary on the absurdities of modern life. The music video, directed by Roger Avary (best known for his work on Pulp Fiction and Killing Zoe), was filmed in the fall of 1994 with cinematography by Tom Richmond and editing by Sloane Klevin. 

Although the single stalled just outside the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 8 on the Bubbling Under chart, it became the band’s first and only Top 40 hit in the UK, reaching No. 29—a curious feat for a group that had once dominated the American new wave scene of the early 1980s.

The Go-Go’s had disbanded in 1985 after releasing three acclaimed albums, but their chemistry proved too strong to stay dormant for long. Nearly a decade later, they reunited to record several new songs for their two-disc retrospective compilation, “Return to the Valley of The Go-Go’s”, which celebrated both their punk roots and pop triumphs. 

Jane Wiedlin recalled the song’s origins: “We were sitting around just sort of musing about how nutty the world has become, and I think Kathy said, ‘Well, what about this line for a title: The Whole World Lost Its Head.’ I was actually kind of unsure about it as a title—it didn’t roll off the tongue—but we just started, for fun, writing all these silly lyrics—silly but true, and topical. Before we knew it, the song had taken shape. We ended up cutting some of the silliest lines—sometimes I regret that. One was about plastic surgeons giving everyone Spock ears, which still cracks me up.”

The song’s bright melodies and jangling guitars belie its lyrical edge. It’s a sardonic reflection on vanity, consumerism, and chaos—a playful take on a world that seems to have spun off its axis. Wiedlin and Valentine’s collaborative spark is evident, balancing humor with bite, much like The Go-Go’s themselves.

Decades later, The Go-Go’s continued to keep the song alive in concert, updating the lyrics for live performances in 2018 and 2025 to reflect the ever-changing absurdities of modern culture.