On Music…
Lately, I’ve been dedicating an hour every day to simply going through music videos for some of my favorite songs, immersing myself in the positive energy of the artists prancing around their sets. During quarantine, as we joke about missing places, it’s relieving to see artists out and about in The Before. A nice reminder of what was as we face down an uncertain world. The music video is an art, sure, but for right now, I want to emphasize how much the music video is a comfort.
Juice WRLD’s “Armed & Dangerous” music video is the perfect example of imagery as salve. The Cole Bennett-directed video features Juice having the time of his life, dancing on set and around the country. Juice WRLD looks to be full of life, spry as ever, and engrossed in the fun of one of his best songs. The constant movement of the music video nicely offsets the vat of stillness we’ve collectively found ourselves drowning in. Every erratic arm movement, every hop, every shoulder shimmy and nod to the camera works against our current COVID moment.
Too, while uncertainty runs rampant, rewatching music videos is a special type of relaxation, for there are no surprises. There’s a great study on the virtues of rewatching your favorite shows when you’re an anxious person, how the assured feeling of the familiar helps soothe the anxious mind. The same can be said for watching a music video over and over again. It’s a special type of peaceful, memorizing the dances and jitters of your favorite artists as they work their way from composition to composition.
Then there’s the pleasure of watching old-old music videos. I constantly return to Jack Harlow’s “Got Me Thinking” from his 2016 mixtape, 18. The song is part of his bedrock as an artist, sure, and it’s fun to track growth. But more importantly, the video is so simple in comparison to the glamour of his latest hits. Watching Jack without any of the markers of his newfound fame reminds me of easier times. Too, it’s a joy to see Jack never took himself too seriously as he put together visuals and primed himself for him come up.
“Got Me Thinking” is an honest song about the finality of young love. The video captures all the trappings of puppy love and how it unravels as time and life continue. Jack appears with his glasses and New Balances in a field, in his bedroom, and at an open mic, with his heart of gold is on great display. There’s a lot to be said for humble beginnings. The “Got Me Thinking” video is heartwarming, and reminds me of the K.I.D.S. era Mac Miller videos, too. “Got Me Thinking” is a time capsule, and with YouTube recommending me the dolled up video for the “WHATS POPPIN” remix right beside it, I get to indulge in the comforts of a quiet past.
I find peace in music videos because they feel unravaged by circumstance. They exist in their own world for consumption at any point. At a time when things feel like they’re constantly being taken away from me—the loss of two family members in 11 days will do that to a person—music videos offer a particular type of stability. I’ve been struggling with accepting time as moving forward despite the great tragedies of my personal life. Music videos help slow things down. Music videos help me break the timeline for three-to-four minutes at a time.
With my music video ritual, I get to experience stillness on my terms. In an era where stagnation rules and freaks me the fuck out, this script flip is more than welcome. It’s necessary.