Avicii - Silhouettes

Tim Bergling released the video for his latest track Silhouettes. I wanted to write about this because of the content of the video. It is about a man who decides to undergo a sex change and become a woman. We see him taking pills (hormones) and images of the man going to a doctor and undergoing surgery. We then see a female partying in a nightclub, and with the way the video is edited, it looks like she is the girlfriend cheating on the main character as she picks up in the club. In the end, you see that the female who hooked up with the guy in the club is the male character post-sex change.

Avicii makes an appearance on the tv the male character is watching. He slams a knife into a cucumber, which I suppose is symbolic of cutting off the male genitalia. The vocalist for Silhouettes, Salem Al-Fakir, appears in the video as a club-goer taking shots. Avicii's manager, Ash Pournouri, makes an appearance as the club's bartender. Kjelle Bergqvist, an acclaimed Swedish actor, is featured as the head surgeon. I like that Avicii kept it Swedish!

Tim Bergling has come under a lot of fire recently. http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dj-mag-keeps-stirring-up-drama-now-its.html and http://jackhadagroove.blogspot.ca/2012/04/oy-vey-people-get-grip.html Probably what comes along with the territory of becoming a "superstar DJ" literally overnight.  What is interesting is that he doesn't need to make a video with any meaning. He can make a typical Ultra Records video and have a bunch of scantily-clad women frolicking about. I respect that he shows a video with a message. The lyrics of Silhouettes are

Press play, fast forward
Nonstop, we have the beaten path before us
It was all there, in plain sight
Come on people, we have all seen the signs
And we will never get back to
To the old school
To the old grounds, it's all about the newfound
We are the newborn, the world know all about us
We are the future and we're here to stay

We've come a long way since that day
And we will never look back, at the faded silhouette

Straight ahead on the path we have before us
Day by day, soon the change will come
Don't you know we took a big step forward
Just lead the way and we pull the trigger

So the song is basically about moving forward. I don't know why he chose to tackle the issue of transgenders and sex change, but it is commendable. When there are still kids getting bullied about their sexuality, and the idea of being comfortable in your own skin is an issue youth still have trouble coming to grips with, Avicii takes the opportunity to talk about this through his video. Using his track and accompanying video as an outlet for discussion is amazing. People of all ages listen to Avicii but it is pretty certain his main market is the 13-39 crowd (I just made that age range up, sounds about right though) and in that age group are some of the most impressionable people. His message is about being open to people who are different and acknowledging that when people do something unconventional to make themselves happy, it is a good thing. Well, that's what I took from the video, maybe Avicii didn't intend to be that heavy but I'm sure this video makes a lot of people think.

It is not essential for videos to carry a message but it is always interesting to see. I really admire the work of video directors. I used to come up with videos for dance tracks (in my head!), part of the reason being frustrated with the lack of creativity by just casting practically naked women dancing around. I know budget is a factor but videos can be such an outlet for painting a picture and making people think beyond the lyrics and sounds of a record. The most elaborate video I thought up was for Roger Sanchez's "Another Chance." Maybe one day I will share my video treatment idea on here...

Side note: a YouTube comment pointed out that Avicii has a thing for hospitals, because the video for Le7els also had a segment in the hospital. I think that is a good thing because there are so many interesting stories that come out of hospitals. I hope he runs with that theme!