When you’re mindlessly watching YouTube today, you might come across a music video from the world of country music. Check it out below then scroll down for the hits and misses of this new offering from newcomer Parker McCollum.
Hits: The Mustang is nice, the anamorphic video looks cinematic and professional with nice lens flares, Parker’s sunglasses are worthy of Elvis Presley, and his voice is mostly not annoying.
Misses: The music video doesn’t do justice to the message of the song. Parker is longing, almost begging, a love interest to tell him what he’s got to do to be loved by her. A sentiment echoed over the years from artists across the spectrum, like Ryan Adams (“To Be Without You”) to Jonas Brothers (“What A Man Gotta Do”).
In McCollum’s take, the lyrics are very earnest and full of questions. When dreaming up a video for this song, one might envision clips of the love interest. Storytelling. Show flashbacks of the pair enjoying each other’s company at a fair, or dinner downtown, splashing each other on a lake shore, romantic dancing while a band plays. Again, storytelling. Why does he want her back?
Record labels have a little thing called a budget and with Parker being new to the national scene, perhaps it wasn’t as high as it will be one day. With that said, clips of Parker in a parking lot, walking under a random bridge, and riding around in a classic Mustang just don’t fit. Not to mention the style of shooting and how it was edited felt like riding in the backseat of a roller coaster without the safety bar in place. It’s not that the cinematography or editing were bad, they were actually done well; compliments on the wide angle and use of light throughout the video.
Final thoughts: Too fast, too furious. Unnecessary shifty camera shots, abrupt Hollywood-style edits, all of it might leave the viewer feeling as if they are fishing from a small boat on the high seas.
Without a doubt, though, fans of Parker love the song and will probably embrace the video along with it. Parker will get another chance, so the glass is half full for his next video including a storyline worthy of the lyrics and heart of the song it accompanies.
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 