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The video starts with paper blowing around
everywhere. You see the attic, the playground and there's Rick, sitting on a jungle gym. I
kinda like how everything is black and white except for the red bandana and belt (and
later on the purple shoes, the blue toy airplane, and red balloon). I really love when he
sings "From the womb to the tomb we will remember what it means" looking into
the camera, pointing, and then kinda scrunches his face up for a second. Something very
appealing about that! LOL And did I mention I love the way his hair is blowing around, and
how the bandana is fluttering around his neck? I noticed that Rick is squinting his eyes a
lot, with all that paper blowing around.
Ummm....I was going to make some remark about how when he sings the 2nd verse and goes
into the chorus the second time, that it struck me as almost as if he's imploring the
children to celebrate their youth while they are still young., to enjoy this time of their
lives, but got majorly distracted when I saw him standing on the jungle gym. :-P
Oh, who am I kidding?? I don't have any deep thoughts on this video. I just know that it's
very enjoyable to watch. (Which makes me wonder why I haven't in so long?) I love
all the smiles at the end, and seeing Rick swing his legs up between the bars of the
jungle gym. He just looks like he's having fun! Have I ever mentioned that I think he's
got the most beautiful smile?? *sigh*
I love Rick's "look" at this juncture,
and as usual, he knows how to "work" the camera!!! Oh those intense green eyes
staring right at ya = thud.
This video reminds me of Rick's eternal youth. Our Rick is certainly a "victim"
of Peter-Pan-Syndrome of 'I won't grow up'. LOL. Just another one of his many endearing
qualities.
I wish it were in color, but I guess the black
and white gives it some meaning, especially showing the attic, which is a child's paradise
to go through. All the things that are from times past that belong to mom or dad or
grandparents.
The little boy just sitting on the chair next to
the grandfather clock is significant in that he's obviously not celebrating his youth.
He's sitting, bored (the big sigh), and kinda letting the time go by that he has left of
youth. That's what I think the significance of the grandfather clock is.
As for Rick, well, he's great!! I like the way
the red scarf is around his neck. It's an object that totally keeps your eyes on his face.
The jungle gym represents youth as does the hopscotch game.
And then we see the youth celebrating in a
hallway. Is that a school hallway maybe?
Oh, and love the bright blue tint they put on the Converse shoes.
I just have nothing that interesting to add, so
here is my deep and meaningful review:
Rick looks good in this video, but tired. I LOVE the way his jeans fit and accentuate his
legs while he's sitting on the Jungle Gym. (am I deep or what?)
I just can't remember if ever saw this video on MTV or anywhere else besides the Beat of
the Live Drum video (which I rented from Blockbuster when it came out).
I would love to know the official story behind all the colorization and the object of
symbolism. The two things that stood out the most for me were the cobwebs and the clock.
(did I mention how great those jeans looked)
I love the black and white in this video! Its
just a really nice look. I figured the red bandana and the red balloon were symbolic of
the energy and fire of youth. And I love the eyebrow lift on the line "remember what
it means" and did anybody notice the next time he sings that line, he gets whacked in
the eye with a flying leaf/trash?! I thought it was funny how he ends up squinting a lot
to avoid those darn things!
I like the kid in the attic playing with the old stuff. It symbolizes pretty well that you
aren't young for very long, so enjoy it while you got it! (This is very close to my heart
today, because my baby is three years old today! How did she grow up so fast!?) I
remembering when I first watched this video that the spinning monkey bar thing made me
think of how fast the years spin by. Admired the fancy footwork when he was spinning
around the bars too!
I like the tight black pants too! And I HAD the long black coat!
I don't remember much from this video while
watching it as a teenager, but have new appreciation after watching it a few times today
to do this review. (I noticed a lot of 'stuff'.... don't actually know what it all
means.... but I have some speculations) :o)
The video starts off in a dead-end alley, tissue paper strewn everywhere. It's a black and
white video, the wind is howling and the paper is blowing all over the place. It looks
desolate. (This looks soooo empty to me. Also, I find tissue paper/Kleenex to be a very
interesting medium of choice. I use the most Kleenexes when I'm sad/crying - didn't know
if this is what it meant.)
Next, this same Kleenex/tissue paper is blowing in an attic. The camera pans past a
nightstand with a picture of someone's grandpa. (I noticed the lamp next to the picture is
actually lit. To me, an attic is also a very desolate place. Having a light on may signify
hope.)
There's a hopscotch, empty, with only leaves blowing. Also, there's an image of a boy,
sitting all by himself in a chair next to a Grandfather clock. (So far.... all of these
images are pretty depressing!)
THEN, Rick appears!! The man is HOT, even if he's hanging out from on top of a playground
gym set. There's a vibrantly, red bandana around his neck, while everything else is still
black and white. Rick is dressed in black from head to toe, except the red bandana.
(Later, I notice that his belt is also tinted red, how did I ever miss it during the first
10 'flashes' of Rick!)
Now.... the same alley is filled with children. They are jumping up and down, arms raised,
really excited. (It's fun to notice that they represent all races and maybe even all
nationalities. Maybe this image represents all youth and that all youth from around the
world should celebrate!)
The same boy that was sitting by the Grandfather clock is in the attic. He puts on
someone's old white tux jacket. The kid is wearing converse sneakers. At first glance,
those sneakers are a bright blue when the camera zooms in on them. The airplane the boy
takes out of the chest is also bright blue. I originally thought the bright blue sneakers
were the boy's....... because Rick was wearing black boots in HIS segment. Later, a
thought popped in my head that *MAYBE* the boy is actually Rick when he was young, and the
bright blue sneakers were a symbol of Rick growing up. If you watch the dance segment of
the sneakers a few times, you'll notice that the feet do a quick dance move towards the
end, and the shoes are noticeably BIGGER. The ending scene with the sneakers propped up
are of a man's sneakers. The baseball next to the shoe that Rick picks up convinces me of
this observation.
Some other tidbits:
1) I found the boy to being very sad. Maybe Rick
suffered some depression as a child, and in this song, is trying to raise a message that
kids should try to celebrate. 2) I was so used to seeing pink and purple
converse sneakers, especially from RICK! I'm thinking the blue signifies a 'boy', and
that's why it's not his normal signature colors in converse sneakers! 3) I
don't have a clue what the one red balloon signifies. (Although, I loved the correlation
that was made about different 'modes' of transportation!) 4) Every time Rick shook his
fist while punctuating the words he sang, I found it very sexy! (Whew, it's getting warm
in here!) 5) Five things were tinted colors: a RED bandana, a RED belt, a RED
balloon, BLUE sneakers, and a BLUE airplane. (Wouldn't it be cool if Rick could someday
comment on this and tell us what he meant for it to represent??)
I'm continuously amazed that every time I re-watched this video, there's a little bit more
symbolism, or a message that I can derive from it. It's actually chock full of meaning. A
lot of work went into this video. Although the title is 'cheerful', this video depicted
how many felt...... the young wanted to be grown up. The old, looked longingly at the
young.
First off, let me just say right now I hate
black and white videos. This is just my need to be in the present, and the past always
seems to me to be represented by black and white. So I think that's my distaste for this
video, I'd probably like it a whole hell of alot better if the whole thing was in color.
Rick looks older to me in this one, which was probably the effect they were going for by
filming it in black and white. I don't like that...I want him looking his usual, young,
hunky self at all times! (this is my teenage pout coming out) Now I think he still looks
damn sexy in this video, but I'm that thirty-something gal now who appreciates the whole
package ;-)
Separating Rick and the kids in this video bothered me. I know they were trying to show
the difference between the man and the child, but Rick looked like he was having fun all
by himself-when he should've been romping/jumping with the kids...you know,
"Celebrating Youth". The visual of the child sitting, waiting, as if waiting to
be an adult was good. As well as when he was running, seemingly trying to get away from
that impending adulthood once he saw it coming and what it held for him.
Random thoughts:
Making the tennies stand out besides the bandana was cute :-) Seeing Rick play on
the monkey-bars was cuter :-) I wonder what that kid looks like today? Does he use that on
his resume' - I was in a RS video? Or what about all those other kids? Do they even know
who Rick Springfield is today?
I finally broke the BOTLD dvd out of the
cellophane today, so that my little 6-year old charge could see it (her name is Jessie,
and she's been appropriately fascinated w/ JG since she was 3). I told her it was our
homework to watch Celebrate Youth, and believe it or not, she cooperated!
Rick was separating himself for "our" generation, and we see this with the
various scenes and the walls holding the kids in, etc. Rick, the boy, and the kids are
each separate, we all have to grow up alone, in our own time.
The black and white video with the colorization
-- how does this fit in with "tron" on the timeline? I'm sure Rick felt it was
cutting edge, it must have been. The design on the tennis shoes, is that a world or the
ying/yang symbol? Tennis shoes, the plane, the balloon, all modes of transportation, at
least for flights of fancy. not sure how the bandana fits into that.
What's with all the debris flying around? Rick
caught at least one very close to the eye (wonder how many shots had to be stopped for eye
care). Maybe this is all the extraneous stuff that fills a life that keeps us from
enjoying life? All that wind, maybe the winds of change? (yep, stretching here)
The little boy, waiting to be a grown up, when he should have been enjoying being a child
(how old was his wife when they got married?--oh, that's a different tangent). What a sad,
anemic looking little boy, a very typical English proper boy. LOVED that he kept grabbing
that dress makers bust. (ahem!)
The monkey bars and all the stuff in the attic
represented imagination, to me, and the passage of time. |
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