After we found out that Golden Hour and Shake It Off (the pitch for this is below)couldn’t work, we finally settled down with Die For You, an official single in the Starboy album by The Weeknd

Die For You

Genre: Romance, Break-up, Emotional

Why: 

-It is a very popular song in a very wide demographic

-Me and Shirley both like the song very much

-Many people likes The Weeknd

-It is very brainwashing so the audience would easily remember

-It has a moderate to fast speed which makes making the MV interesting easier

-The song is commercially successful, it goes viral on TikTok, has over 1 billion hits in 2022.11.17 on Spotify, and and topped the Billboard.

 

Is there an original MV?

Yes, there is an existing MV. However, I feel that it does not really aligns with the song as it seems more of a salute to the TV series Stranger Things to me. The good thing about having an MV is that we could see how The Weeknd expresses the song and it may give us inspiration and start us off. It also give us the opportunity to stand out if our presentation of the MV in our interpretation fits the song more. The downside of having an MV is that people may have a “standard” or a “frame” that limits them when they watch ours.

 

More Info About The Weeknd

“Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and melancholia, and is often inspired by personal experiences. He has received numerous accolades, including four Grammy Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, 20 Billboard Music Awards, 17 Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.”——Wikipedia

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Detailed lyric analysis 

Die For You is a song about the difficulties you meet in a relationship, it typically refers to long-distance relationships where people don’t often see each other. Many believe that Die For You refers to his relationship with Bella Hadid, which ended a few weeks before this song was made. They broke up because it was too hard to maintain the relationship with the complicated schedules of both, but they were still emotionally connected.

 

In the song’s climax, The Weeknd has this girl character that’s perfect for him and they are both making an effort to go through the hardships of a long-distance relationship. To show how much effort he’s putting in, the lyrics writes that he would die for her, a clear sign that he deeply love her despite the issues.

 

Even though we’re goin’ through it
And it makes you feel alone
Just know that I would die for you
Baby, I would die for you, yeah
The distance and the time between us
It’ll never change my mind ’cause
Baby, I would die for you
Baby, I would die for you, yeah (Say)

 

The lyrics become painful sometimes because it’s hard for both to leave this relationship as they know that they’re perfect together. So The Weeknd prefers to accept what’s going on and avoid blaming each other. He also admits that they will never find someone that matches better than they did with each other.

 

I’m findin’ ways to manipulate the feelin’ you’re goin’ through
But, baby girl, I’m not blamin’ you
Just don’t blame me, too, yeah
‘Cause I can’t take this pain forever
And you won’t find no one that’s better
‘Cause I’m right for you, babe
I think I’m right for you, babe

 

When you love someone, and circumstances force you to break up, you keep torturing yourself about why it happened this way. It’s true, sometimes love is not enough to make a relationship works, but it’s surely the hardest situation to explain when, after the breakup, you start to process the reasons, the explanations for what you experienced.

 

I try to find a reason to pull us apart
It ain’t workin’ ’cause you’re perfect
And I know that you’re worth it
I can’t walk away, oh

 

After all, the lyrics of Die For You are about the end of a relationship where both parties are still in love, and the song’s meaning is to express the doubts and the feelings you usually have in this situation.

 

Three key scenes I improvised to link the lyrics and the MV are the following:

-“die for you” very repetitive lyric, could be a scene that falls into the water, could be a scene that runs, very big and extreme movement of the character 

-“I can’t walk away” Memory flashback created by overlapping layers

-“he distance and the time between us” two people stands very far away with a wide shot