Annotation of the Lyrics

I believe that the song is something meaningful and should have a visual representation of the lyrics to get the best out of the song; seeing as it means something emotionally for the original artist herself. Also, the lyrics prove that emotion is everything for this song and help give the amazingly successful sound it has.

You called me out and taught me tough with love,

With love,

You fought my flaws, my teeth, my claws with love,

With love,

Cause every time I'm slipping away from myself,

You're the one that moves me like nobody else,

The first verse begins with a deep emotional connection straightaway, the artist singing about someone bringing her out of the shadows and helping her love again. This image that someone 'taught me tough with love' is a juxtaposition as the idea of love being something harsh is odd so already the song is proving itself to be a direct message from the artist on exactly how she feels. She then emphasises these opposites by explaining that this person continued to fight her imperfections i.e. 'flaws', 'teeth' and 'claws' representing those blemishes in her personality 'with love', this clear image that she has been healed by this person's love. She continues on to the bridge that she confesses that when she is 'slipping away' from herself, this person 'moves me like nobody else'; making it clear that this love has already saved her before and has continuously done so up until now.

Cause when I'm down and I'm done,

And I'm coming unplugged,

When I'm ready to fall,

You're the one always holding me up,

With love, oh,

The chorus is obviously the main piece of the song where the artist belts out the main and most memorable lyrics and, additionally, where she portrays how strongly she feels throughout this song. This is where I need to have focus upon the visuals in the video itself as the artist's expression through the lyrics is at its peak so a good visual representation within the video during this point would make it successful.

Your tongue won't tie,

You always find the truth, yeah you do,

But still you smile despite the lines I drew for you,

Cause every time I'm slipping away from myself,

You're the one that moves me like nobody else, oh no,

Looking at the beginning of the second verse, it's clear that the song is full of visuals that the artist uses to portray her emotions throughout the song and that this is important to illustrate through the music video, the lines 'your tongue won't tie' and 'despite the lines I drew for you' emphasis this. I've found that, as an artist, having an emotional connection with the lyrics is important to Grimmie which, in turn, should be reflected through the narrative and even more so through the performance shots as it would be great to portray her personality through the video.

~~Chorus~~

When I'm down,

When I'm coming on down no,

You're always there with love,

When I'm down yeah,

When I'm out, when I fall,

You're always always always always always there,

This is a big build up of the melody getting louder and stronger whilst the artist sings parts of the lyrics in any random order as a sort of free-style verse, allowing the artist to really impress with her vocals and push the emotion through to the listener. The repetition of 'always' right at the end shows the artist really pushing her vocals to showing her appreciation of these people whom have helped her get to where she is. It's clear that this is a moment in the video where I should consider a build-up of emotion for the main actor that truly reflect her appreciation for her inspirations behind the song.

When I'm down and I'm done,

And I'm coming unplugged,

When I'm ready to fall,

You're the one always holding me up, (x2)

With love.

The last repetition of the chorus is significant because this is where you hear the artist's strong and unique vocals much more clearly. When she sings the first 4 lines, it was sung just after a big build up of the song and this sudden drop in music brings back the gentle tone a typical Soul song contains. Additionally, and most importantly, the sudden drop of music bring Grimmie's voice into the spotlight and has extreme focus on her singing and the emotion she puts into her voice as she sings. This is a significant point in the song, I believe, as it provides a good tempo for a positive twist within the song and potentially the music video.