Something I Need

I hate one republic.

Wait.

I spoke to soon, let me rephrase.

I actually love one republic.

One moment please, that’s not what I’m getting at, so let me try again.

I hate that I love one republic as much as I do.

Yes, finally, that’s what I have been trying to say all along.

One republic’s music is great. They don’t have a particular sound which makes it difficult to confine them to a single genre, the lyrics of their songs are incredible, most of their videos are very interesting and yet I seem to have a problem with the band, why is that?

The problem I feel lies in the fact that their songs make you think, they make you want to get up and do something.

I have been very honest with the posts on this blog, but the stupid things that I have done after listening to their songs are secrets that I will carry to the grave.

Not the grave maybe, but definitely to my deathbed atleast.

Alright, alright. I’ll give you one example.

The song ‘I lived’ is one my favorite songs by the band. The words are basically a calling to the people of the world to do the best that they can with their life, its good advice. But for a man completely unaccustomed to running with 5 minutes left to catch a plane which was just about to leave the gates it meant doing everything physically possible to try and make it.

Spoiler alert.

The man slips and falls right next to the gate, he coughs uncontrollably trying to catch his breath surrounded by a crowd incredibly paranoid about swine flu and yes, the plane leaves.

Ok, so the song doesn’t literally ask people to do silly things, but that’s what I’ve been trying to say, one republics music tends to have that affect on people.

‘Something I Need’ is a song from the their album ‘Native’.

While the song itself is beautiful, it’s the music video that this month’s blog post is dedicated to.

Let’s start from the beginning.

We see a man sitting on a park bench reading a book very intently. Standing close by is a very pretty girl feeding the ducks in the pond. She waves at the man who initially can’t believe that the girl is interested in him but after a while he gathers himself and starts walking towards her.

Before he reaches her though, he sees a giant, angry looking dog that chases him down the street and leaves him badly injured.

Bleeding and bruised he makes his way to a newspaper stand and reads about the dog which turns out to be a rabid animal on the loose. The girl appears again. This time he almost holds her before the Alsatian comes roaring back at him. He struggles to fight the dog back but he doesn’t break loose and the dog prevails.

The video now cuts to the funeral service.

Our hero is lying in his coffin, and weirdly enough he is still holding on to the book he was reading initially.

Someone, presumably a close friend or a relative walks up to him and takes away the book.

The girl appears again holding the dogs on a leash and she lets them loose.

The dogs dig into our hero, but he doesn’t resist (he can’t, he’s dead remember) but surprisingly, he is brought back to life.

He smiles as he awakens to seeing the girl and the video ends.

You can watch the complete video by clicking on the link below.

Like almost every other one republic music video, upon seeing it another time I realized that there was more to it that just a funny story.

To me, the young man represents a every other person in the world with an apparently impossible dream, the book he holds on to is like a set of rules that he has made for himself over the years that are serving as a roadblock to going after what seems to be ‘out of his league’. The dogs stand for his fears that he harbors inside which threaten his very existence and show up every time he decides to take a step towards changing his life.

Instead of standing tall and facing his fears he runs away whenever he is confronted by them and his fears eventually consume him.

Even in death he holds on tightly to his little rule book, till someone comes and forcibly snatches it from him. To me this scene symbolizes all the people in our lives who work tirelessly to remove the curtains from our eyes and help us see things clearer.

With the book gone and no other option left but to face his fears the young man realizes that what he thought would kill him actually ends up breathing life into him.

Like the man in the video it’s not uncommon for us to hold ourselves back from doing something that could make a major difference in our life because of our doubts or fears, but the truth is that many of these uncertainties are often founded on rules and policies that we make up for ourselves that don’t lead us anywhere but keep us from going after something that could potentially make us happy.

If there is something in the world that you feel you need, you must go after it with everything you have. You may encounter fears of all different kinds and shapes, some real some made up, but the truth is that you are always bigger than your fears, no matter what.

And I guess what the best part of going ‘all in’ even if you fail is that you will find something invaluable in exchange, which is closure, and you will never have to look back on your life and wonder what should’ve, would’ve or could’ve been.

Don’t run from what scares you, if you do you’ll never stop running. Stand tall and face them, and you will realize they have no power over you or your future.

Until next time.

TGV.