A-ha took a turn from their usual video direction to a more controversial video for Celice. Shot in Berlin, and partially inside a working brothel, the subject matter for the video was human vices and temptation. Some of the topics included drug addiction, suicide, prostitution, masochism, unwanted pregnancy, and illicit affairs. Magne is quoted as saying, "The video is about people who have lost their direction in the hunt for meaning - and loneliness as a result of lost innocence".

The video is mostly shot in black and white with thermal imaging video enhancement. Two similar videos were made for Celice, one of which demonstrated female nudity and more background story for the more commonly seen video.

Inspiration for the song was attributed to the popular novel, "The DaVinci Code" where a known torture device called a cilice (actually pronounced sill-liss) was used to punish one's self for thinking impure thoughts. A-ha's "Celice" is a double entendre for the torture device, and the name of a woman named "Celice" whose presence seems to torture the men. It was rumoured that the song would be in the soundtrack to the film, but this did not occur.

The video topped #1 in 2 European countries and hit the top 50 in 8 European countries.

© 2005 Universal
Celice

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