Kelly Clarkson Sets Her Inner-Diva Free in ‘I Don’t Think About You’ Video
Kelly Clarkson's assumed the role of pop-rock renegade, soulful balladeer and smiley sweetheart across her 16-year career, but in her new video for her Meaning of Life single "I Don't Think About You," she ventures into hallowed territory: The Land of the Diva.
Clarkson, who released her newest soul-splattered LP in October 2017, unveiled the video for its second single Tuesday (March 20),
"It used to bother me / Thought I could never leave? / After all that I've been through, nothin’ left to prove / No, no, no, I don't think about you," Clarkson croons with complex melismas on the track, a rumored answer to her contentious battle with record exec Clive Davis.
The treatment, which spills over with autobiographical storylines, follows a young girl as she grows up, watching helplessly as her parents argue, her boyfriend mistreats her and the heads of her record label condescend to her. But when things feel hopeless, all the iterations of Kelly ascend a spiral staircase and john her on a raised stage, where she's a vision of resolve and glamour.
AND THAT WHITNEY FINGER-WAG!!!
Clarkson previous said in a tweet that the ballad is an emotional benchmark of sorts, and amounts to the moment in which somebody can look back and realize he or she survived something terrible.
"I think it's important that...even if you're having a hard time...to have that light at the end of the tunnel on these songs," she said. "And 'I Don't Think About You' is basically saying like 'Just so you know, I was wrecked a bit, and it did deter me maybe for a minute, but I always continued my path and I always continued to do what I loved and you didn't stop me. You didn't break me. You might've come close, but you didn't break me.' I think that that's really important, and I think that that happens a lot."
Clarkson began teasing the video in the days leading up to its release with images of smoky eyes, winding staircases and big, dark expanses.
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