Spring Breakers came out last year, right? Ellie Goulding’s new music video for her song “Goodness Gracious” is all neon-clad juveniles (or I guess you could call them “spring breakers”) running around some SoCal / Florida locale without much going for them other than their light-up sneakers-because light-up sneakers are supposedly cool again.
Directed by Kinga Burza, the video itself has really nothing to do with the lyrics. Goulding sings about wanting to call her ex repeatedly, and yet, never is there a cellphone in the video or anything about her character to show that she is remotely sad or frustrated by her constant need to keep calling. Maybe the overused inverted color scheme is supposed to represent her discontent, but the overall message of the song makes no sense juxtaposed with bad tap dancing that belongs in a ’90s Skechers commercial.
The music video itself is fun and bright, but I can’t help myself from thinking about all the stereotypical portrayals of youths at parties. Have you ever been to a party on a beach with glow sticks and black lights? Yes? Well then, you are a stereotype. It’s a fun video that reuses imagery over and over again and where nothing really happens but the supposed cool kids partying. Although it is customary to have the artist sing in the video, it just felt strange seeing Goulding sing an electronic song while riding a glowing bicycle or running around palm trees in the middle of the night. I didn’t know what was going on, but everyone seemed to have a good time. Music videos should still represent the story of the song-even to a minimal degree-but in this case, the two just did not fit.en
