Lykke Li's "Tonight" sparks feeling.

I first came upon this masterpiece of a song this summer, on a long car ride home from my family reunion, when my brother decided to take over the Ipod cord against my protests. We have battled over Ipod time for the past several years, although I now reluctantly agree that his taste in music has been much better, and has molded my own tastes for many years now. My brother, who will inspire many posts on this blog, has always been at the front line for which music is “in” in the indie/underground rock scene, and most importantly which music excites the soul a little more than your typical crap on the radio. But this post is not about my brother. This post is about my relationship with this one particular song, Lykke Li’s “Tonight.”

So after hearing the song, I was very intrigued by its acoustics and mournful tone. Lykke Li’s voice seemed to wrench at my heart that was further protruded by the video. Now, let me say, I have never been a fan of music videos.. I think that they take away our own creative visions as listeners, but this video is different. Lykke Li comes onto a black and white screen, staring straight into the camera, wearing a simple black top and no makeup whatsoever ( in fact with the way her hair is slicked back from her face it is easy to assume that she has just gotten out of the shower). This sight is an automatic shock to most women, considering the majority of videos in the media try to gain our attention with flashy clothes, makeup, themes, ect. But not Lkkye Li. She starts the video emulating all of the vulnerability that the listener can hear in the music, and the lyrics of her song.

"Push my back, so I make sure,
you're right behind me as before.
Yesterday the night before tomorrow.

Dry my eyes so you won't know.
Dry my eyes so I won't show.
I know you're right behind me."

The hollow sound she starts off with as she sings the intro is almost haunting. She brings to light a common fear of being left alone at a party, but as you get to the second verse you feel that there is so much more history than what meets the eye. This bare girl across the screen is hiding her insecurities by covering her tears from whoever is joining her tonight. When the chorus chimes, in the last few times of “don’t you let me go, let me go tonight” I felt my own tears coming down, as hers fall too.

Each and every person that has taken the time to really watch this video has also been pushed to tears by the context and the susceptibleness of this song. As human beings, we all have the capability to feel lonely; it just takes a brave person to admit it.