I've watched the music video at Least 40 times. I may've watched it 10 times a day for a few days because I was dealing with a breakup and it captivated me. It shows exactly how I felt. My hopeless place was the age difference, the distance, and the fact that we were POLAR opposites and had different morals, like he believed in lying and Im more than a fan of honesty. Anyways, I don't believe this had a Thing to do with drugs, the video or the lyrics. I liked NowandNever's opinion of the yellow diamonds lyric.
This is loooong, but based on the music video and how many times I've watched it, i've broken down the relationship she's portraying (and I must say it's the deepest music video I've ever seen. Especially coming from a pop star. And no, I'm not a Rihanna fan. I don't like her at all really, just the song resonated w/ me during a hard time in my life.)
At the very beginning, during the speech, that's the part when they were single. In the bathtub, when we see him wet like he'd just been under water (which could metaphorically represent him drowning in misery, till he first saw her? Maybe he saw her at a club or the store, but we see them in a bathtub, maybe b/c they're both in a rough place in their lives so they're "in the same boat?") we see him staring at her and she looks and does a double look, as though she's shocked he's noticing her. In another scene seconds away we see them on opposite sides of the tub, watching each other. she almost looks suspicious and if you look close enough, she takes a gulp. Representing how it feels when you're getting to know some1 who Really likes you. All the scenes that continue when they're not around each other show how it was before they met each other. With Rihanna dropping to her knees in the field, him walking the road alone, her looking out the window, him looking towards his drumset, maybe a dream he gave up... Then there's the crazy part that i still can't explain, she gives him the cigarette to smoke but he doesn't exhale the smoke, she does. The third bathtub scene, she gives him the ok, and comes over to him, instead of kissing him, she leans against his chest, probably b/c she needed somewhere to rest emotionally and physically cause she looked like she'd been crying. And then they share the first kiss, and he's shirtless maybe, metaphorically, to show that he's giving his all to this relationship from the start? She's still dressed to show that she's guarded? And then the relationship begins as the song starts up.
A major detail, the slot machine. It says play now. They were beginning the game of love annnd since love is a gamble... I'm not sure what the lightening strike was for though. Now from that part till my next paragraph it's the beginning of the rela, when everything's new, they Just started dating and they're happy and Rihanna's doing crazy stuff like running thru a field shirtless to express the freedom she feels with him. They're happy & free. Now when she says "As your shadow crosses mine" you see a car and a road in the background, alSo representing the start of their relationship. They're on the road together. Moving forward. (Take note of that. Forward.) Happy happy happy, sky and clouds, freedom, joy. Oo, now I love the skatepark part b/c well, i think it's a metaphor, yes, again. The guy goes down first w/o hesitation and looks back at Rihanna she's nervous/excited bout it and based on her hand gesture, she says, ok, i'm gonna do it. She slides down the ramp and into his arms. Safely. I think that represented falling in love and being caught at the bottom. He's so happy that she did it that he lifts her up and spins her around, then they're on their floor w/ their hands in the air. They're victorious. No one's hurt, they're still happy. She starts the chorus and flowers are growing around her, their romance is growing into something beautiful.
The talking bass. Still happy, she's jumping on tables and stuff could represent that she starts telling the world, her friends, family, bout this love that she's found and she's so happy w/ him that she doesn't care who knows. And, the guy's happy about that of course. Background of Rihanna, fields, freedom. Then the pill scenes start up representing that the addiction has officially begun. First time they have sex, fireworks. They're jumping around and happy b/c everything's going perfectly, without a hitch. Freedom. Pattern.
Shine a light through an open door
Love and life I will divide
means once you've peeked through the door, made sure everything's safe, which is what they did during the dating and falling in love periods, love and life begin to separate. The life you had before him becomes mute. You don't hang w/ the girls anymore or spend time w/ your family as much...
Turn away cause I need you more,
Feel the heartbeat in my mind.
she's realizing she needs him more so she's starting to pull away and the destruction begins,(around the same time the destructive behavior starts in the m.vid). she feels her heart racing when she's near him and she knows she's falling too deep into her addiction to him.
Back to the vid, they're shop lifting together. I think, once again, it's a metaphor. The innocent fun they had at the beginning became boring so they had to take it up a notch. Maybe just being together wasn't enough, maybe they had to do bad deeds to get that high that they had when they first started. What I think is the guy was too calm for Rihanna. That she's crazy, because from the beginning, she was doin some wild shit. I think she was starting to get bored w/ him & She initiated the wrong doings. b/c when she was in the cart and he was pushing it down the street, she was ecstatic, he was happy, but it didn't seem like his style, not something he'd have normally down if she hadn't been in his life. And i think she's the one that got him to start smoking in the beginning too.
Flashing lights, but it's nighttime in the background as Rihanna sings. So remember that road and that car they were in at the beginning? In the background when they were moving forward? Now they're starting to go in circles, and RiRi's still ok b/c the relationship is still fun in her eyes. Rihanna wants to know that they're meant to be for sure, so she calls him over to the slot machine, and they play the love game. (Though they'd been playing the whole time, since the beginning of the song, when i mentioned the machine, BUT I think this time they want to know if they're meant to be together forever. The machine keeps saying no. Life's challenges keep saying no. Their differences keep saying no.) And they're both mad.
We see Ri w/ tears down her face throwing a dart. Their love is a hit and miss. And she bases her throw on the fact that "WE HAVE ESP" on her tshirt. Idk bout you, but when i was in love w/ my ex, we had esp, BIG time. He could sense when i was upset, he'd text me as soon as i started thinking about him. We were on FIRE w/ that esp stuff, but apparently, that wasn't enough. Their relationship (& mine) was a hit and miss. Controlled demolition. They were destroying their relationship from the inside out. There are a lot of ways for how they pulled that off, maybe they were too set in their ways and no one can Really change. Maybe they were too different or maybe they didn't know how to handle trouble in relationships.
So we see them in the car and they're driving in circles and ri slaps the dashboard and yells for him to stop. In the arguing stages, when the problems in the relationship aren't fixed, circles start to develop and OH GOD do they do damage! Police lights, not sure what that was about. Constant arguing, drinking. She gets out the car. She gets out of the relationship... then the happy times of them together cross the screen. I believe she was reminiscing the good times. Background, burning house, it could've been their love being so misguided and them being so immature in themselves that they couldn't control their love's flame and in letting problems and situations go undiscussed and get out of control, they burned themselves and the rela down. So, I think she was thinking over the entire relationship, the good and the bad, and how they lost control, and eventually she returns to the car, to the relationship.
And I've said enough, way too much. The rest of the details in between should be obvious from here.
You offer a very detailed, in-depth analysis of the music video; yet you fail to interpret the last several seconds of the video in which, after the viewer has been lead to believe the video is over (because Rihanna has walked out, and closed the door on her lover) there is a brief clip of her sitting alone in the corner of a room. This room, of course, is the same room that serves as one of the main settings of the video. I'm lead to believe that this final shot implies that her lover, or what she "thought" to...
You offer a very detailed, in-depth analysis of the music video; yet you fail to interpret the last several seconds of the video in which, after the viewer has been lead to believe the video is over (because Rihanna has walked out, and closed the door on her lover) there is a brief clip of her sitting alone in the corner of a room. This room, of course, is the same room that serves as one of the main settings of the video. I'm lead to believe that this final shot implies that her lover, or what she "thought" to be her lover, was just a metaphorical representation and halucination of the drug to which she was addicted.
Basically, the "deepness" of this song hinges upon how far you want to read into the cliche metaphor "Love is a drug"; or, to restate, how Love has addiction-like properties, which produce many effects similar to those found in people deeply in love.
I've watched the music video at Least 40 times. I may've watched it 10 times a day for a few days because I was dealing with a breakup and it captivated me. It shows exactly how I felt. My hopeless place was the age difference, the distance, and the fact that we were POLAR opposites and had different morals, like he believed in lying and Im more than a fan of honesty. Anyways, I don't believe this had a Thing to do with drugs, the video or the lyrics. I liked NowandNever's opinion of the yellow diamonds lyric.
This is loooong, but based on the music video and how many times I've watched it, i've broken down the relationship she's portraying (and I must say it's the deepest music video I've ever seen. Especially coming from a pop star. And no, I'm not a Rihanna fan. I don't like her at all really, just the song resonated w/ me during a hard time in my life.)
At the very beginning, during the speech, that's the part when they were single. In the bathtub, when we see him wet like he'd just been under water (which could metaphorically represent him drowning in misery, till he first saw her? Maybe he saw her at a club or the store, but we see them in a bathtub, maybe b/c they're both in a rough place in their lives so they're "in the same boat?") we see him staring at her and she looks and does a double look, as though she's shocked he's noticing her. In another scene seconds away we see them on opposite sides of the tub, watching each other. she almost looks suspicious and if you look close enough, she takes a gulp. Representing how it feels when you're getting to know some1 who Really likes you. All the scenes that continue when they're not around each other show how it was before they met each other. With Rihanna dropping to her knees in the field, him walking the road alone, her looking out the window, him looking towards his drumset, maybe a dream he gave up... Then there's the crazy part that i still can't explain, she gives him the cigarette to smoke but he doesn't exhale the smoke, she does. The third bathtub scene, she gives him the ok, and comes over to him, instead of kissing him, she leans against his chest, probably b/c she needed somewhere to rest emotionally and physically cause she looked like she'd been crying. And then they share the first kiss, and he's shirtless maybe, metaphorically, to show that he's giving his all to this relationship from the start? She's still dressed to show that she's guarded? And then the relationship begins as the song starts up.
A major detail, the slot machine. It says play now. They were beginning the game of love annnd since love is a gamble... I'm not sure what the lightening strike was for though. Now from that part till my next paragraph it's the beginning of the rela, when everything's new, they Just started dating and they're happy and Rihanna's doing crazy stuff like running thru a field shirtless to express the freedom she feels with him. They're happy & free. Now when she says "As your shadow crosses mine" you see a car and a road in the background, alSo representing the start of their relationship. They're on the road together. Moving forward. (Take note of that. Forward.) Happy happy happy, sky and clouds, freedom, joy. Oo, now I love the skatepark part b/c well, i think it's a metaphor, yes, again. The guy goes down first w/o hesitation and looks back at Rihanna she's nervous/excited bout it and based on her hand gesture, she says, ok, i'm gonna do it. She slides down the ramp and into his arms. Safely. I think that represented falling in love and being caught at the bottom. He's so happy that she did it that he lifts her up and spins her around, then they're on their floor w/ their hands in the air. They're victorious. No one's hurt, they're still happy. She starts the chorus and flowers are growing around her, their romance is growing into something beautiful.
The talking bass. Still happy, she's jumping on tables and stuff could represent that she starts telling the world, her friends, family, bout this love that she's found and she's so happy w/ him that she doesn't care who knows. And, the guy's happy about that of course. Background of Rihanna, fields, freedom. Then the pill scenes start up representing that the addiction has officially begun. First time they have sex, fireworks. They're jumping around and happy b/c everything's going perfectly, without a hitch. Freedom. Pattern.
Shine a light through an open door Love and life I will divide means once you've peeked through the door, made sure everything's safe, which is what they did during the dating and falling in love periods, love and life begin to separate. The life you had before him becomes mute. You don't hang w/ the girls anymore or spend time w/ your family as much...
Turn away cause I need you more, Feel the heartbeat in my mind.
she's realizing she needs him more so she's starting to pull away and the destruction begins,(around the same time the destructive behavior starts in the m.vid). she feels her heart racing when she's near him and she knows she's falling too deep into her addiction to him.
Back to the vid, they're shop lifting together. I think, once again, it's a metaphor. The innocent fun they had at the beginning became boring so they had to take it up a notch. Maybe just being together wasn't enough, maybe they had to do bad deeds to get that high that they had when they first started. What I think is the guy was too calm for Rihanna. That she's crazy, because from the beginning, she was doin some wild shit. I think she was starting to get bored w/ him & She initiated the wrong doings. b/c when she was in the cart and he was pushing it down the street, she was ecstatic, he was happy, but it didn't seem like his style, not something he'd have normally down if she hadn't been in his life. And i think she's the one that got him to start smoking in the beginning too.
Flashing lights, but it's nighttime in the background as Rihanna sings. So remember that road and that car they were in at the beginning? In the background when they were moving forward? Now they're starting to go in circles, and RiRi's still ok b/c the relationship is still fun in her eyes. Rihanna wants to know that they're meant to be for sure, so she calls him over to the slot machine, and they play the love game. (Though they'd been playing the whole time, since the beginning of the song, when i mentioned the machine, BUT I think this time they want to know if they're meant to be together forever. The machine keeps saying no. Life's challenges keep saying no. Their differences keep saying no.) And they're both mad.
We see Ri w/ tears down her face throwing a dart. Their love is a hit and miss. And she bases her throw on the fact that "WE HAVE ESP" on her tshirt. Idk bout you, but when i was in love w/ my ex, we had esp, BIG time. He could sense when i was upset, he'd text me as soon as i started thinking about him. We were on FIRE w/ that esp stuff, but apparently, that wasn't enough. Their relationship (& mine) was a hit and miss. Controlled demolition. They were destroying their relationship from the inside out. There are a lot of ways for how they pulled that off, maybe they were too set in their ways and no one can Really change. Maybe they were too different or maybe they didn't know how to handle trouble in relationships.
So we see them in the car and they're driving in circles and ri slaps the dashboard and yells for him to stop. In the arguing stages, when the problems in the relationship aren't fixed, circles start to develop and OH GOD do they do damage! Police lights, not sure what that was about. Constant arguing, drinking. She gets out the car. She gets out of the relationship... then the happy times of them together cross the screen. I believe she was reminiscing the good times. Background, burning house, it could've been their love being so misguided and them being so immature in themselves that they couldn't control their love's flame and in letting problems and situations go undiscussed and get out of control, they burned themselves and the rela down. So, I think she was thinking over the entire relationship, the good and the bad, and how they lost control, and eventually she returns to the car, to the relationship.
And I've said enough, way too much. The rest of the details in between should be obvious from here.
You offer a very detailed, in-depth analysis of the music video; yet you fail to interpret the last several seconds of the video in which, after the viewer has been lead to believe the video is over (because Rihanna has walked out, and closed the door on her lover) there is a brief clip of her sitting alone in the corner of a room. This room, of course, is the same room that serves as one of the main settings of the video. I'm lead to believe that this final shot implies that her lover, or what she "thought" to...
You offer a very detailed, in-depth analysis of the music video; yet you fail to interpret the last several seconds of the video in which, after the viewer has been lead to believe the video is over (because Rihanna has walked out, and closed the door on her lover) there is a brief clip of her sitting alone in the corner of a room. This room, of course, is the same room that serves as one of the main settings of the video. I'm lead to believe that this final shot implies that her lover, or what she "thought" to be her lover, was just a metaphorical representation and halucination of the drug to which she was addicted.
Basically, the "deepness" of this song hinges upon how far you want to read into the cliche metaphor "Love is a drug"; or, to restate, how Love has addiction-like properties, which produce many effects similar to those found in people deeply in love.