Wow....

http://pitchfork.com/tv/#...oy-records

Wow. This video was NOTHING like I thought it be would be... It's RAW and PERSONAL... This is a whole new element to Janelle Monae!

I wasn't sure where she was going with this video until about the 1.35 mark when she says "I was made to believe there was something wrong with me" and at that point the video AND the song take a whole new direction. This video to me is about the words she's singing. She stripes down from the sutes, bow ties, and dancing shoes. There is no adriods. It's just Janelle Monae Robinson.

[Edited 8/4/10 22:51pm]

I really like, reminds me of Sinead O'Connor 'Nothing Compares'.

Does the emotion seem sincere, I don't know, I wonder why she broke down, was it because she has feelings of inadequacy? She's already spoken about her struggling parents, so she clearly has a sensibility of what it means to be downtrodden...

I've been searching for news about this video every day since I heard it was filmed. All I can say is wow! This girl kills me!

^^ agree it is an impressive video and does draw from Sinead and D'angelo

Doing a single take shot is fraught with danger - and maybe the breakdown is more due to the frustration of missing the perfect take and perhaps tiredness.

Lord knows to get that one take might have taken 70 or so and hours of reshooting.

Nice. She did the complete opposite of what I was expecting for this song. Tears not surprising at all.

wow that totally left me speechless!

Not only does it compare two Sinead's video, but Alanis also did one like this. Frankly - I don't like it. I love JM, but the video is uninspired, vapid, and a banal attempt at something that isn't resonating with me. She had a chance to do something great here with such a powerful song. Won't be watching it again.

I don't think this was the original concept for the video. Infact I recall her saying that she was gonna be ridding on the white horse again in this video (white horse from the many moons video). I would guess that this shot was suppose to be some part of the Cold War video but when she broke down it became so powerful that they chose to go with this 1 take shot version instead. I wouldn't be shocked if it at some point we see an aleternate version of the video.

I thought the video was gonna be more like the live performance of Cold War. Where it's very rock and roll and high energy with her running around doing the Ali boxing moves...

But this was unexpted and i LOVED it.

LIVE PERFORMANCE

definitely not what i expected. i like it though.

ernestsewell said:

Not only does it compare two Sinead's video, but Alanis also did one like this. Frankly - I don't like it. I love JM, but the video is uninspired, vapid, and a banal attempt at something that isn't resonating with me. She had a chance to do something great here with such a powerful song. Won't be watching it again.

I agree Ernest. I don't feel any sincerity here unlike Sinead's original video take of this idea. JM is clearly hugely talented I am just left with no inclination to see it again.

Better, or at least similar and more interesting, close ups or one-take videos:

That video is pathetic attempt

Rococomojo said:

I really like, reminds me of Sinead O'Connor 'Nothing Compares'.

Does the emotion seem sincere, I don't know, I wonder why she broke down, was it because she has feelings of inadequacy? She's already spoken about her struggling parents, so she clearly has a sensibility of what it means to be downtrodden...

That's exactly what I thought the moment it started. I see several others here recognize that too. I don't know if that's a good thing honestly. To make a serious video that instantly reminds people of another popular video defeats the purpose of being innovative, in my opinion.

Although I love her record, and think she's adorable (cute as a button); I wasn't moved by this video.

ernestsewell said:

Better, or at least similar and more interesting, close ups or one-take videos:

This is my favorite of these types of videos:

Still not sure what to make of this, don't know if i like it, will have to watch it again.

I think it's absolutely brilliant. It's a personal song, so there should be a personal video to go with it. I could sit here and type about it all day long, but my first sentence is the gist of how I feel about it. I think it's VERY powerful and I love it when artists show you something other than dancing and special effects and what not. I think what works for it the best is the contrast. The song is VERY lively, but the video is SO simple. I love all of her videos, but so far I think this may be my favorite, because all you're focusing on is her, and you don't know why she's crying or what frustration she was going through when she made the song, and maybe that all that resurfaced during the filming of the video. All I can say is Wow.

Meh.

ScarletScandal said:

I think it's absolutely brilliant. It's a personal song, so there should be a personal video to go with it. I could sit here and type about it all day long, but my first sentence is the gist of how I feel about it. I think it's VERY powerful and I love it when artists show you something other than dancing and special effects and what not. I think what works for it the best is the contrast. The song is VERY lively, but the video is SO simple. I love all of her videos, but so far I think this may be my favorite, because all you're focusing on is her, and you don't know why she's crying or what frustration she was going through when she made the song, and maybe that all that resurfaced during the filming of the video. All I can say is Wow.

I would totally agree with that if all you described hadn't been done before (by the popular artists metioned so far). For example, the single tears, the looking down, moving her head from side to side were all done by Sinead specifically, lol. Because of that, this video unfortunately can't be considered brilliant, at least not to me. It's cool, but there's no innovation like her previous videos.

I think it would have been better if she had used special animated effects with the close up angle. The simplicity would still be there, but instead of just her own face, she could have displayed herself singing straight to the camera as her robot/android alter-ego, 'cause that's who the subject of this song is about, right?

WaterInYourBath said:

ScarletScandal said:

I think it's absolutely brilliant. It's a personal song, so there should be a personal video to go with it. I could sit here and type about it all day long, but my first sentence is the gist of how I feel about it. I think it's VERY powerful and I love it when artists show you something other than dancing and special effects and what not. I think what works for it the best is the contrast. The song is VERY lively, but the video is SO simple. I love all of her videos, but so far I think this may be my favorite, because all you're focusing on is her, and you don't know why she's crying or what frustration she was going through when she made the song, and maybe that all that resurfaced during the filming of the video. All I can say is Wow.

I would totally agree with that if all you described hadn't been done before (by the popular artists metioned so far). For example, the single tears, the looking down, moving her head from side to side were all done by Sinead specifically, lol. Because of that, this video unfortunately can't be considered brilliant, at least not to me. It's cool, but there's no innovation like her previous videos.

I think it would have been better if she had used special animated effects with the close up angle. The simplicity would still be there, but instead of just her own face, she could have displayed herself singing straight to the camera as her robot/android alter-ego, 'cause that's who the subject of this song is about, right?

I have to disagree with you here. Although Sinead sings the HELL out out the song. There is no denying that Cold War is a much more personal and deeper song. For starters Janelle wrote this song her self and as opposed to Sinead who song was of course written by Prince for the Family project. Her sadness comes off as much more sincere then in Sineads video and with lyrics such as "When you step outside, you spend your life fighting for sanity. Cause this is cold war" and the lyric that she starts crying at is "i was made to believe there is something wrong with me". I prefer Janelle video because it's more raw and more personal then Sineads. Nothing compares 2 U is well polished and the tears coming flowing right at the climax of the song. While in Janelle's video the video shows all indications that i was just a 1 shot video, and her tears come at random in the middle of the song. In fact she stops singing the song at one point in an attempt to compose herself. So although Cold War is similar to Nothing Compares 2 U. It has has strong differences in it a more personal and deeper song. As well as it's completely 1 take close up on her face as opposed to Nothing Compares 2 U which goes from the face shot to the shots of her walking through the garden/park.

and the song is clearly written about Janelle personal life. Remember in the story Janelle Monae is set back in time to the present day. So the story is about both Janelle Monae and Cindi Mayweather.

But that's just my opinion....

[Edited 8/5/10 19:45pm]

P2daP said:

WaterInYourBath said:

I would totally agree with that if all you described hadn't been done before (by the popular artists metioned so far). For example, the single tears, the looking down, moving her head from side to side were all done by Sinead specifically, lol. Because of that, this video unfortunately can't be considered brilliant, at least not to me. It's cool, but there's no innovation like her previous videos.

I think it would have been better if she had used special animated effects with the close up angle. The simplicity would still be there, but instead of just her own face, she could have displayed herself singing straight to the camera as her robot/android alter-ego, 'cause that's who the subject of this song is about, right?

I have to disagree with you here. Although Sinead sings the HELL out out the song. There is no denying that Cold War is a much more personal and deeper song. For starters Janelle wrote this song her self and as opposed to Sinead who song was of course written by Prince for the Family project. Her sadness comes off as much more sincere then in Sineads video and with lyrics such as "When you step outside, you spend your life fighting for sanity. Cause this is cold war" and the lyric that she starts crying at is "i was made to believe there is something wrong with me". I prefer Janelle video because it's more raw and more personal then Sineads. Nothing compares 2 U is well polished and the tears coming flowing right at the climax of the song. While in Janelle's video the video shows all indications that i was just a 1 shot video, and her tears come at random in the middle of the song. In fact she stops singing the song at one point in an attempt to compose herself. So although Cold War is similar to Nothing Compares 2 U. It has has strong differences in it a more personal and deeper song. As well as it's completely 1 take close up on her face as opposed to Nothing Compares 2 U which goes from the face shot to the shots of her walking through the garden/park.

and the song is clearly written about Janelle personal life. Remember in the story Janelle Monae is set back in time to the present day. So the story is about both Janelle Monae and Cindi Mayweather.

But that's just my opinion....

[Edited 8/5/10 19:45pm]

That may be , but I'm just looking at the visual, which to some folks can make the the lyrics irrelevant (at least until she starts crying). If you mute the sound, all that's there (to me) is a near-replica of an old iconic/well known video that many people remember. At face value, there's really nothing different besides, as you said, a few of her expressions and the lack of segues in a park. Oh, and Janelle isn't wearing a turtleneck either, lol. However, those differences are kinda minor overall, and I can bet if questioned about it, before even mentioning the song itself, some interviewer will ask her "did Sinead O'Connor influence you for this video?" ....

I understand your perspective though. The good thing is, not all people watching "Cold War" even know about Sinead, lol, so I think it has a good chance of becoming popular.

http://www.soulculture.co...nce-video/

P2daP said:

WaterInYourBath said:

I would totally agree with that if all you described hadn't been done before (by the popular artists metioned so far). For example, the single tears, the looking down, moving her head from side to side were all done by Sinead specifically, lol. Because of that, this video unfortunately can't be considered brilliant, at least not to me. It's cool, but there's no innovation like her previous videos.

I think it would have been better if she had used special animated effects with the close up angle. The simplicity would still be there, but instead of just her own face, she could have displayed herself singing straight to the camera as her robot/android alter-ego, 'cause that's who the subject of this song is about, right?

I have to disagree with you here. Although Sinead sings the HELL out out the song. There is no denying that Cold War is a much more personal and deeper song. For starters Janelle wrote this song her self and as opposed to Sinead who song was of course written by Prince for the Family project. Her sadness comes off as much more sincere then in Sineads video and with lyrics such as "When you step outside, you spend your life fighting for sanity. Cause this is cold war" and the lyric that she starts crying at is "i was made to believe there is something wrong with me". I prefer Janelle video because it's more raw and more personal then Sineads. Nothing compares 2 U is well polished and the tears coming flowing right at the climax of the song. While in Janelle's video the video shows all indications that i was just a 1 shot video, and her tears come at random in the middle of the song. In fact she stops singing the song at one point in an attempt to compose herself. So although Cold War is similar to Nothing Compares 2 U. It has has strong differences in it a more personal and deeper song. As well as it's completely 1 take close up on her face as opposed to Nothing Compares 2 U which goes from the face shot to the shots of her walking through the garden/park.

and the song is clearly written about Janelle personal life. Remember in the story Janelle Monae is set back in time to the present day. So the story is about both Janelle Monae and Cindi Mayweather.

But that's just my opinion....

[Edited 8/5/10 19:45pm]

That's the part that got me right there. I was like "wow" because I can TOTALLY relate to that.

I love it.

[Edited 8/6/10 17:59pm]

Timmy84 said:

I love it.

[Edited 8/6/10 17:59pm]

LOL

Alamine said:

Timmy84 said:

I love it.

[Edited 8/6/10 17:59pm]

LOL

That's my opinion.

Alamine said:

Timmy84 said:

I love it.

[Edited 8/6/10 17:59pm]

LOL

i thought it was pretty good, i enjoyed it.

I liked it..it made me listen to the lyrics...Its Cold War...do you know what youre fighting for....the industry.

P2daP said:

Alamine said:

LOL