When Teyana Taylor released a self-directed music video for “Lose Each Other,” her fans were most likely not expecting the first person featured in the musician’s video to be Sir Elton John in front of a grand piano.
On Tuesday, Taylor released her latest music video for “Lose Each Other,” a song off of her latest LP, The Album, which was released on Juneteenth. The music video begins with John sitting at a black piano positioned in the middle of a white backdrop, before Taylor first appears, dressed in a sheer, body-hugging black garment. The video features a small group composed of Taylor, John, a guitarist, and a duo of dancers. The all-white background with bold outfits emphasizes the song’s simplistic yet powerful message.
As the only ballad on the album, “Lose Each Other” discusses how breakups do not always have to be bitter. The lyrics articulate that even though the relationship may be over or on the rocks, all the history that someone has with their partner is not suddenly negated nor irrelevant. Taylor sings that some people will want to check in on their ex-partner’s family and friends to connect with the people who have been a significant part of their lives.
“We don’t have to end on negative terms, because it’s still a person that you once loved,” Taylor said about the song in the Apple Music Editor’s Notes for her recent album. “We can accept it for what it is, you know?”
This song shows the gray areas within relationships that are so common in life.The dancers embody these gray areas as they flow from dancing together to spinning apart. The camera cuts between Taylor and the dancers as their movements reflect Taylor’s sentiments as she sings “we don’t have to lose each other / we could still be friends if you want it.” The dancers push and pull at one another, sometimes in tandem and sometimes against the other’s desires, as they wear nude-toned outfits that further emphasize the intimate connection between two individuals.
Ballads can sometimes fall on two ends of the spectrum—personifying a perfect breakup or a perfect makeup. But Taylor’s music video for “Lose Each Other” shows that saying goodbye to a relationship isn’t as clean-cut as it may seem.
Featured image courtesy of Def Jam
