MADRUGADA — Nobody Loves You Like I Do
Norwegian rock group Madrugada has released several music videos for their latest album Chimes at Midnight (rel. Jan 28th, 2022), their first album in 14 years. At the time of writing they are touring through Europe, ending the summer season with a gig at Panathenaic stadium in Greece. I attended the first concert of the tour at Berns, Stockholm. The opening song was Nobody Loves You Like I Do — the first single and music video from the new album. When I came home after the concert, I took a closer look at it. The more I look at the video for this song, the better it gets.
This article will dig a little bit deeper into the means of the video, directed by Eivind Holmboe, spotting the details that might turn it into something more than just a man walking from one room to another.
If you want, start off by watching the video in its entirety here
This analysis contains my suggestions on how to read and understand the video, and follows the narrative as presented in the video. I have also posted the lyrics connected to each scene, but not will not give a deep analysis of them specifically this time. Briefly I can say that, in my view, it is about a man who is going through a loss of a close person (You — I relationship), may it be a family member, ex. parent, or of a romantic relationship. In my opinion there are signs in the video that leads to a family matter.
Concerning the music, it takes no strange turns, for example they never change the key to the song, modulate or use chords outside the established scale. This strengthens the dramatic dialogue in the movements between Sivert Høyem and the man.
Note that they have addressed the geographical location for the video, Vesterålen — the band’s area of origin in northern Norway. Since this is the first release of new music in many years from Madrugada, this is to me an act of confidence, saying this is us — raw and unpolished — and the music presented is their artistic home anno 2022.
The first scene puts us straight into the place for the whereabouts for this story, an abandoned, desolate and worn farmhouse. From a bird’s view, accompanied by light strings, we see that all the windows are open — a true indication of a site with a need to clear the air. Two of the band members are placed in front of the house and starts off the rhythmic beat of the song. The drums, a gloomy bass riff and the piano sets the tone for almost a minute (20%) of the song, introducing an underlying severity.
The band members are all dressed in black suits, underlining their artistic role in the movie. They are not present for the man. Still, the singer, Sivert Høyem, plays a significant role with his movements. Note that the rest of the band remains in their positions throughout the video.
In the next clip, the camera brings us inside the house where we see the singer, Sivert Høyem, sitting by a bed and an old man sitting in it. Høyem keeps his focus at this man almost the whole video, like a devil on the man’s shoulder. So far, the video has shown some the basic of an existence; a man and his shelter. But the first room offers some hints to put more flesh to the bone.
THE FIRST ROOM
Lyrics:
How you holding up?
Your hands are so cold
I study your circles and your serpents
Maybe it’s not enough
Nothing ever is
It always starts and ends with a kiss
Nobody loves you like I do
Nobody loves you like I do
Nobody loves you like I do
Nobody loves you like I do
As the camera enters the room, we see an empty bookshelf, Høyem, a teddy bear, the man in a shirt and a woven picture. The man is wearing a flannel shirt and a worn craftsman pants. This might indicate that this is a man that has dealt with struggles that has made him stronger over the years. It can be a symbol of the mending role the man has had in being the diplomat of the household. The man is smoking a cigarette and takes a drag just as the camera reaches the room. The wornness of the house, combined with the rugged man, links these two together and tells us that the man has experienced something here that marked him for life. Now, it all passes in review as Høyem is the voice from the past and the man is processing some defining moments.
The empty shelves might indicate that some opportunities have been taken away from the man. The absence of the books highlights the presence of the teddy bear, which is a strong a hint that this can be the man’s childhood room. The woven picture on the wall is a common object in Nordic family homes and underlines the family matter.
The positioning of Høyem in front of the empty shelves can be a representation of a person who shielded the man from the intellectual and enlightened world. Note that the light in the room also comes in from this angle. But also, Høyem sits by his bed as a parent with a child. To me these are strong indications that the video is presenting a troubled parent — child relationship.
The man sits in the dark before he rises and leaves the room, pouring himself a cup of coffee and moves on into the next room. Høyem sings the line repeatedly: “- You give yourself away”. The man wants to escape from the voices from the past in his head, but Høyem follows him.
SECOND ROOM
Lyrics:
If the world is on fire tonight
You know that it’s your own fault
If the world is on fire tonight
You know that it’s your own fault
Do you really wanna break the spell?
The downward spiral
All this give and take
In the wee small hours
You give yourself away, you give yourself away
You give yourself away, you give yourself away
Nobody loves you like I do
Nobody loves you like I do
Nobody loves you like I do
Nobody loves you like I do
Nobody loves you like I do
But my hands are tied
But my hands are tied
But my hands are tied
Nobody loves you like I do
But my hands are tied
Nobody loves you like I do
(But my hands are tied)
Nobody loves you like I do
(But my hands are tied)
Nobody loves you like I do
Høyem, still with an intense focus to the man, stops and stands in the doorway, trying hard to cling on to the momentum in the man’s mind and signaling that there is no way out of this. The man, now in the light from the window and his back to Høyem and the door, is, literally, smoking out the bad memories with his cigarette in opposition to the lyrics of the song. The calmness of the man now slowly changes into a confidence, rather than the brokenness that could be assumed in the first room. This is a turning point in the video. This act can also represent that the man has settled with the past and is now becoming the stronger part in the video, ignoring Høyems accusing tone. But Høyem, being the voices from the past, is trying to keep up the intense, restless hammering in the man’s head. Note that the only gesture the man does, is rubbing his forehead twice.
The first line of the lyrics in this room is the accusatory “If the world is on fire tonight, you know that it’s your own fault”- a harsh message from an adult to a child. A closer look at the room shows us that is a worn kitchen, with an old radio on the wall. The radio is another indication that the music in the video represents experiences from the past. And as the camera swipes through the room, we also see a rampaged room next to the kitchen. The mess gives the viewer a feeling of a troubled household has lived here, or maybe the man has destroyed the room in rage.
This positioning of the two men stays until Høyem gets more and more intense in his singing and finally goes outside with the phrase «But my hands are tied». The man’s ignoring of the voices in his head has worked and he is finished with whatever happened in the past.
At the very end of the music video, the man rises from his chair. Leaving Sivert Høyem framed in the window as a picture, the total monument of something from the past. These last movements to these lyrics are a final act to symbolize that the man has made up with the ghost from the past and that this person no longer has a place in his present life. Framing a person in a window is a classic tool in movies of reminding the viewer of a key aspect. In this video it gives us a duality, with the framing of Høyem and what he represents, and it brings the focus back to Madrugada as a band in the final seconds — wanting us to see hear the song and watch the video again.
CLOSING NOTES:
In my opinion, Holmboe has made a bit of a masterpiece by using simple but powerful symbols that underlines the lyrics to a certain emotional viewpoint. He is playing with light and darkness, positioning, and small, subtle, and powerful hints.
On their website in a comment on the new album, Høyem says: «The songs are a reflection of who we are in the present time. We’re older. We’re all fathers. I believe I have a more nuanced view of life than I had 20 years ago, a greater ability to feel several things at once. Madrugada’s aesthetic was very New York City and Berlin, we were a punk band that played the blues. All those elements remain. But this time around it felt appealing to explore the more dreamy aspects of what we do. The city we recorded in encouraged us to do so».
Listen to “Chimes at Midnight” in its entirety here:
