Don’t we love it when our favourite musicians add layers of meaning to their music videos for us to decode? Music videos are not as simple as they may seem. They carry the artist’s unexpressed inhibitions, and some symbols and motifs that refer to something larger than us. Artists have used religious, political and personal symbols to throw shade, empower themselves or to simply tell their narrative to their fans. Here are a few music videos that speak volumes:
‘Call Me By Your Name’ by Lil Nas X uses religious motifs to bring queerness to the centre of the discussion. He came out as gay in June 2019, and his music video and the lyrics hint at the nuances of being queer and finding love. He is trying to allude to the pressure he feels as a gay artist, or as someone from the LGBTQIA+ community in his journey as a musician.
Taylor Swift has been known to throw shade at all her enemies through her lyrics, but in ‘Look What You Made Me Do’, she took a step further. She brought back many of her old memories through dresses she wore at events and in music videos. She threw shade at Kanye, Kendall Jenner, Katy Perry and all her exes in a scene where she is standing in front of eight men (which is also how many exes she had at the time) who are wearing “I ♥️ TS” crop tops.
The Weeknd comes up with beautiful songs, but ‘Save Your Tears’ has a special place in our hearts. The song features some exaggerated facial features by Abel, which some people interpreted as his way of commenting on the masks we all wear. Even when he is shooting himself in the end, he is smiling but there is definitely nothing but chaos in his heart. We love this explanation, but some people also assume that to be a dig at his ex, Bella Hadid who has presumably had multiple surgeries, but who knows?
‘Rare’ by Selena Gomez has multiple self empowering and fascinating motifs. In her own words, “The video is very ethereal and captures the journey through three different states of mind. The moths symbolise determination and attraction. The forest represents the path to freedom, and the bathroom, self-reflection. At the end of the day, allowing yourself to be vulnerable and self-reflective can lead to this incredible freedom.”
Justin Bieber’s most real and influential song has to be this one. ‘Lonely’ features Jacob Tremblay, who plays a young Justin Bieber. His lyrics and the video highlight the childhood that is lost to stardom, and this is something that Bieber went through in his own life. Fame and stardom can come with its own pros and cons. It can sometimes get lonely; Not having true connections and judged harshly by people all around the world for mistakes you committed as a child.
– Riya Sohini