JCHSugarland's "Stay" video delivers sincerity and emotion - uncommon, right?
December 20th 2007 11:26
So I am watching CMC (Country Music Channel) at the moment. For the record, yes, I have a life, and yes I do listen to other music…but, for some reason, my life is oddly routed in country music.
The video that just finished was “"Stay"” by Sugarland.
This video pretty much defines the term, simple. The video is pretty much the anti-excess that now makes up most music videos. There are no special effects, perfectly placed extras or attractive actors in this video. What we see is Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, in front of a basic black backdrop with minimal camera shots.
As a viewer, we see Jennifer Nettles telling a story, her face the main shot and the tears falling down her face. We become connected to the story; we feel that she is revealing this story to us and with only a simple acoustic guitar accompanying the vocal. It is only fitting that the stripped song be matched with a stripped video.
Now, listening to the lyrics, it’s pretty much the story of the mistress trying to understand why her lover is unable to cut the ties with his partner and because of this, why she is exhausted from the hurting of the situation. Traditionally, this is not the kind of song that we are going to hear about. Conventionally, we will hear of the wife losing her husband to a mistress i.e. Reba’s classic “Whoever’s In New England”. What Nettles face delivers is emotion and sincerity with each word and we are drawn into the story, moved by her words and the pain in her vocals and her own face.
This video is not about sex appeal, it is not about production – it is about a story that is almost impossible to not become invested in, for the four minutes and fifty-five seconds that it lasts for.
Nettles told GACTV, “What if you were bold enough to tell the story of that other woman, and what she feels like in loving someone that is not fully hers either and knowing that there's another woman that's hurting because she's in the picture?' That's complex, adult stuff. Ultimately, it's about the redemption of loving oneself enough to realize, 'I am worth more than this situation. We're all worth more than this situation, really.'"
"Stay" can be streamed at Sugarland's Myspace page.
The video that just finished was “"Stay"” by Sugarland.
This video pretty much defines the term, simple. The video is pretty much the anti-excess that now makes up most music videos. There are no special effects, perfectly placed extras or attractive actors in this video. What we see is Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, in front of a basic black backdrop with minimal camera shots.
As a viewer, we see Jennifer Nettles telling a story, her face the main shot and the tears falling down her face. We become connected to the story; we feel that she is revealing this story to us and with only a simple acoustic guitar accompanying the vocal. It is only fitting that the stripped song be matched with a stripped video.
Now, listening to the lyrics, it’s pretty much the story of the mistress trying to understand why her lover is unable to cut the ties with his partner and because of this, why she is exhausted from the hurting of the situation. Traditionally, this is not the kind of song that we are going to hear about. Conventionally, we will hear of the wife losing her husband to a mistress i.e. Reba’s classic “Whoever’s In New England”. What Nettles face delivers is emotion and sincerity with each word and we are drawn into the story, moved by her words and the pain in her vocals and her own face.
This video is not about sex appeal, it is not about production – it is about a story that is almost impossible to not become invested in, for the four minutes and fifty-five seconds that it lasts for.
Nettles told GACTV, “What if you were bold enough to tell the story of that other woman, and what she feels like in loving someone that is not fully hers either and knowing that there's another woman that's hurting because she's in the picture?' That's complex, adult stuff. Ultimately, it's about the redemption of loving oneself enough to realize, 'I am worth more than this situation. We're all worth more than this situation, really.'"
"Stay" can be streamed at Sugarland's Myspace page.
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