Shippy Moment of the Day: "Being with You Is So Dysfunctional" (Kelly Clarkson)

"My Life Would Suck Without You" ~ Kelly Clarkson

Maybe I was stupid for telling you goodbye
Maybe I was wrong for trying to pick a fight
I know that I've got issues
But you're pretty messed up too
Either way I found out I'm nothing without you

First and foremost, how cute does Kelly look? SO CUTE. She looks so refreshed and natural and beautiful.

What is there not to love about this video? KID LOVE, people! (I realize I'm jumping all over the age spectrum here, but childhood friend love is one of my favorites.)

My favorite part of the video is all the parallels between the kid stuff and the present day. First, the bracelet:

How Naley is that? I also love how she's wearing
this bracelet in her "singing by the window" pose.

And then the fight:

I love how in the kid frame he's looking at her (because he's
the offending party) and in the adult frame it's reversed (her fault).
Just a simple touch that really resonates.

I realize the entire video is really just two people who still act like kids and thus act badly in most regards, flushing keys down toilets and nearly getting into car accidents and almost killing a goldfish by throwing it out the window. But that's what the song's about. And that's what life is about. When you're in love, to quote on Willow Rosenberg, it makes you do the wacky.

This is totally me. Stealing another person's
magazine and whacking him with it.

Although, I try to keep clothing inside the apartment.

It's a modern-day love story. I mean, we live in an age of dysfunctional women and exasperated men (watch any romantic comedy or Grey's Anatomy) and Kelly captures that perfectly in this video. (I don't quite agree with the sexism in this stance, but it's an industry standard by now and at least Kelly puts a twist on it by having the guy also act a little crazy.) Neither party is the "Ideal," but that's okay. We can be loved for our faults as well as for our strengths. It's new-fangled modern ideal: to be loved for the stupid things we do, as well as the great things.

Shippy Moment of the Day: "I Miss You" (Avril Lavigne)

"When You're Gone" ~ Avril Lavinge

I always needed time on my own.
I never thought I'd need you there when I cry.
And the days feel like years when I'm alone.
And the bed where you lie is made up on your side.

When I first started watching this video, I was plagued with apathy. In a video about loss, Avril picks two cliches: two teens torn apart by conservative parents and a soldier in Iraq and his pregnant wife. Good job, Avril, hitting up your central faux-teen-rebel base and overwrought timeliness. But then the video completely surprises you and portrays a third, heartbreaking scene: an elderly man torn up by the death of his wife.

He starts with overwhelming, shattering grief where he clings to everything that's left of her: photos, clothes, and her side of the bed. And then, slowly but surely, he is able to find strength in his pain and is able to visit his wife's grave to celebrate their lives together. Needless to say, the first time I finished watching this video, I had tears streaming down my face.

I know, I know. Melissa, why do you like old people love so much? I'm telling you: nothing is more painful to watch (in a good way) than how we must realize our own mortality through our love and loss of another. Maybe I'm projecting too much onto a part of life I have yet to experience, but what could be worse than losing your partner of the past few decades? Screw young love. It may be passionate, but can it even hope to compare to fifty years of companionship?

I really respect Avril for including this particular storyline in the video. It doesn't quite fit with the song, but on an album (The Best Damn Thing) where Avril was constantly selling her new-found sexuality, a beautiful, poignant representation of love not lust in a completely unsexy context strikes a level of maturity that I didn't expect from her.

Shippy Moment of the Day: "I Thought that I Would Be the Only One" (The Corrs)

"Long Night" ~ The Corrs

And it's gonna be a long night.
And it's gonna be cold without your arms.
And I'm gonna get stage fright caught in the headlights.
It's gonna be a long night
And I know I'm gonna lose this fight.

A love story in reverse, the music video uses one shot to capture the break-up and then the relationship of a couple.

Breaking up!

Unfortunately, some of the rewind action looks a bit awkward or jerky, but the overall effect is lush and the song itself is one of my favorites.

My favorite effect: a singing Andrea in real time follows
her ex-boyfriend who is in reverse through a crowd.

Awkward middle school dancing! Also, Sharon's
gorgeous violin, which makes the song.

An ambitious video that for the most part pays off. All the music videos from Borrowed Heaven (this one, "Summer Sunshine," and especially "Angel") are so much better than their usual muddled fare from their previous albums where the videos come off as disjointed and nonsensical.

Also, the acoustic version of the song, which is excellent:

Shippy Moment of the Day: "I'll Just Cast Shadows on Your Wall" (Maria Mena)

"Nevermind Me" ~ Maria Mena

This facade that I'm stuck with
Has got me wondering.
Just tell me how you want me
And I'll be naked stumbling
Just to get a reaction, any signs of love.

A super-cute music video with a an angsty, cartoonish quality. Maria Mena is dressed in an animal costume handing out flyers before she leaves to meet her date.

Isn't she so adorable? There's just this natural,
effortless beauty in her performances.

Just the right touch of silliness and seriousness.

Misfortune ensues. She almost gets hit by a car, misses her train stop, and then gets stood up on her date.

Sadness!

Meanwhile, across town, a similarly animal-ed, flyering man also gets fed up.

Doesn't he kind of look like High King Peter?

In a culmination of both of their misfortunes, they literally run into each other...

WHAM!

...and, seeing a little of themselves in the other person, connect.

Meet Cute!

So Happy!

Just a beautiful, sweet kiss. One of the sweetest
kisses I've seen on film.

If you're not familiar with Maria Mena, I highly recommend you looking into her. Her music is strikingly honest and bare with a unique voice and stripped lyrics.

Shippy Moment of the Day: "Hopeless, Breathless, Baby Can't You See?" (Jonas Brothers)

Hey gang. I thought I'd switch up entries this week. Instead of a TV show, this week will be filled with music videos with romantic subplots that I adore. Because, let's face it: Melissa loves a music video with a plot. (Also, my music tastes aren't that sophisticated, so the artists should surprise no one.)

"Lovebug" ~ Jonas Brothers

Called you for the first time yesterday.
I finally found the missing part of me.
I felt so close but you were far away,
Left me without anything to say.

Absolutely heartbreaking. It's like the best WWII movie cut down into a little over 4 minutes. 1940's couple meet, fall in love, buy a house AND THEN HE JOINS THE MILITARY! Sadness and angst ensues. Framed by their present-day grandchildren looking at a photo album from the time, the best part of the video is when they turn to the last page and the ribbon that their grandmother gave their grandfather to remember her by is placed on the last page, telling you for certain that the grandparents that we see in the framing sequence are, in fact, our hopelessly-in-love couple from before.

Yay! He survived!

The actual scenes are full of great character moments and not just Jonas Brothers vidspam. Simple shots, catching glances. When he gets his registration certificate and hides it from her, preferring to watch her dance with a smile on her face? So telling. And when the song starts rocking out in the end, the action does a fantastic crescendo.

This was the music video that convinced me that the Jonas Brothers were actually legit. It's a beautiful song and perfectly done music video that is both heartwarming and wrenching at the same time.

Well done, J-Brothers. You have sold me on your pop music
and reinforced my status as a tween no matter what age I really
am. Because, let's face it: I'll be listening to this when I'm 60.

Top Ten: Backstreet Boys

In anticipation of my attendance of the upcoming Backstreet Boys concert (buy tickets!) I've composed the following list of my favorite BSB songs. Admittedly, it's heavily biased in favor of Millennium, Black and Blue, and Never Gone, as those are the albums on my iTunes, and God knows I'm terrible at sticking with Top Ten lists, but these are all great songs that I adore.

(A Note: Unlike Ryan, I haven't figured out how to upload songs. So, instead, I'm providing YouTube videos that are mostly BSB pics to each of the songs.)

10. TIE: What Makes You Different (Makes You Beautiful)



Really, it's a combination of two of my great loves: BSB and The Princess Diaries. It's on the Princess Diaries soundtrack, which is actually rather listen-able, plus it's just so delightfully happy and love-conquers-all, telling its "being unique is awesome!" message:

"I know sometimes you feel
Like you don’t fit in
And this world doesn’t know
What you have within."

Seriously. Lyrics every misfit pre-teen clings to for dear life.

10. TIE: I Still...


The song is rocking, plus the title ends in an ellipses. How could I not love it?

9. It's Gotta Be You


(The vid is a pic-spam to the song, but at 2:06 they have a photo from when BSB guest-starred on Arthur--which was a fab episode, btw.)

My love for this song started when my friends in middle school came up with a routine to it for the Variety Show. But beside that, it's super-catchy and not in an annoying way like my least favorite BSB song (which you will find out at the end of this list).

8. Siberia


A confession: I made a Smallville music video to this song. And, in fact, you can see it in the above YouTube video. Am I actually that pathetic? Yes. Is the video actually that poorly constructed? Yes. As for the song itself: what I love about Never Gone is that so many of the songs were stories. They weren't just in-the-moment love songs. They really took "The Call" to the next level. "Siberia" is a song about how a lover leaves the song's protagonist for someone else and covers so much: sadness, anger, and acceptance. It's just lovely. Although I don't list it, "Poster Girl" from Never Gone has the same lovely story-telling and I would advise listening to it.

7. Shape of My Heart


This stands in the list and kinda represents both itself and "As Long As You Love Me." Both are hits that are the patented BSB mix of smooth yet pop-y.

6. The Call


(Yeah. Face-shifting psycho takes on cheating BSB-ers. Their music videos never made much sense.)

Hello, eighth grade. While my conservative thirteen-year-old self despised this song because it was about cheating on your girlfriend, my growing teenager within swiftly slapped the idealist in me with the convincing argument of "It's catchy and you love it." I figure that dichotomy is the best insight you can get into my head.

5. Incomplete



Not to be confused with "Inconsolable" which was not nearly as good.

4. How Did I Fall in Love with You



BSB recorded so many great slow ballads that are often overlooked, as did *NSYNC. (One of my favorite *NSYNC songs is "Selfish," which is a slow song that is yearning in its simplicity.) "How Did I Fall in Love with You" is the classic dilemma of falling in love with your best friend:

"Those days are gone, and I want you so much.
The night is long and I need your touch.
Don't know what to say,
I never meant to feel this way.
Don't want to be
Alone tonight."

If you like this song, I also recommend BSB's "Time."

3. I Want It That Way


(Oh, Chinese Backstreet Boys.)

Duh.

2. Drowning


Off of their Best-Of Album (which, strangely, they called The Hits: Chapter One...and then they proceeded to fall of the face of the earth), "Drowning" is a great addition to their established hits. It has all the metaphor-ness of "Bleeding Love," but doesn't annoy me. Instant win in my book.

1. Just Want You to Know


My first song ring tone, as my entire cog sci class soon learned. So embarrassing, but I love the song enough to swallow the shame. That, my friends, is love.


And the one song I just can't stand? "Larger than Life." Maybe it's the maniacal laugh or the the rhyme of "see" with "reality." I don't know. But I'm pretty over it.

Bonus! BSB and Shania Twain!