The huge sign reads “Welcome home daddy! ” as the little girl runs and jumps into her father’s arms at the airport. In Carrie Underwood’s song “See You Again” there are many clips of soldiers returning home in the music video. This song reminds today’s society that they will be reunited with their loved ones, whether in this life or the next.
Underwood released this song just a few months ago, after the Sandy Hook shootings and the Oklahoma tornadoes. It has become impossible not to notice that today’s society has begun to lose hope in the world.“See You Again” shows us the raw images and reasons that the society has begun to lose hope, but it reminds the population that we must find and maintain hope, because without hope today’s society has nothing. Underwood reminds people that there is so much in the world to hope for; that they must rid themselves from the negative mindsets, and begin to work to better the world again.
“See You Again” demonstrates a heartwarming message through strong tension, lyrics, and many images that state today’s society must rediscover and keep hope.The video starts with a white room covered with white sheer curtains and Carrie Underwood dressed in all while. Not even seconds later the video zooms through about fifty images and videos of people returning from the military, graduations, deaths, Sandy Hook shootings, Oklahoma tornadoes, proposals, and weddings. These are just some of the examples of the images that are shown on the screen for just a few seconds. The video makes emphasis on the military returns, deaths, and many happy memories.Carrie Underwood is shown many times throughout the video in the white, well-lit room.
During the video some of the other images show the memorials of the Sandy Hook shooting, and the Oklahoma tribute, then the camera pans back to Underwood, where we find her sitting with her head nested on her crossed arms. This is a much more vulnerable side of Carrie; which shows the personal connection between the artist and the importance of the subject. Once the video starts to near the end the video begins to only show the happier and optimistic images.The last few minutes the camera again pans in on Carrie in the white room and a bright white light that eventually over takes the whole room.
This final image represents the foreshadowing of the restoration of faith in today’s society despite events that have left us hopeless. In the past, the people of today’s society have suffered greatly. In the music video, Underwood shows images of the Sandy Hook shooting memorial, and the tone allows the audience to recall past memories such as 9/11.The scene begins to lose the bright light, and Underwood is shown in a vulnerable position. The audience see’s the diming of the light as if losing hope after the catastrophe of the attack on the twin towers.
On September 11, 2001, a group of Islamic extremists hijacked four planes and carried out suicide attacks against the United States. Two of the attacking planes were crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, another plane crashed into the Pentagon, the fourth and final plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.After this major attack, the United States was left with an extensive number of deaths and then pushed to combat terrorism. Just as the nation was left in despair after the attacks on the twin towers, the same feeling was experienced during the Sandy Hooks elementary shooting.
The Sandy Hook elementary shooting took place on December 14, 2012. A twenty-year-old male went into Sandy Hook elementary school and took the lives of twenty children and six adults. The nation once again fell to disparity and became hopeless.In Carrie Underwood’s music video, the audience sees the scenes of the memorials from the tragic event, while the vivid memories race through the nations minds.
Seconds later the video pans to laughing and happy children as Underwood sings, “Sometimes I feel my heart is breaking, but I stay strong and I hold on cause I know, I will see you again, this is not where it ends, I will carry you with me” (Underwood). With such tension in these lyrics the song goes from giving the audience melancholy feelings, to leaving them with a sense of hope.In this lyric Underwood reminds us that though people may be gone, (like the victims of the attack on the Twin Towers and Sandy Hook shooting), today’s society must carry their memories throughout life. The tension caused by the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Sandy Hook Shooting threw the United States into a state of desperation. During the beginning of the music video Underwood sings, “Said goodbye, turned around and you were gone, gone, gone, faded into the setting sun slipped away” (Underwood).
In these lyrics, the sun is used to portray the death of a person whose life was taken so abruptly, like the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting and the 9/11 attacks. When society experiences instances of this, hope is lost and there is no feeling of safety in the community. In a recent article, “Hope,” published in the spring of 2011, written by Gloria Rubio-Corte’s, NCL’s president says, “Hope happens when people have a home” (Cortes 27). When such terrible events happen in our society, nobody feels at home, even when surrounded by family and friends.In the article, Cortes continues to explain that the only way someone feels at home is when a person believes the community they belong to is safe. After major events such as the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Sandy Hook shooting, no one felt at home.
This is the main contributor to the tension in society, which then resulted in the loss of hope. But time heals all wounds. Today’s world has the strength to bounce back from major events that cause the world to lose hope, such as the Twin Tower attacks and the Sandy Hook shootings; because the United States is a typically optimistic society.The powerful words in Underwood’s lyrics bring the audience hope.
The video shows Carrie in her all white room singing, “Sometimes I feel my heart is breaking but I stay strong and I hold on cause I know I will see you again, this is not where it ends” (Underwood). During this peak of the song the main point is revealed, Underwood tells the audience that even though people may be sad because of the losses, society has to realize that there is a possibility to see loved ones again someday, in this life or the next.When sung in Underwood’s lyrics, that “this is not where it ends,” the author is implying that society cannot let this be the end of our hope. In a tension filled world, full of attacks and shootings, the community must come together and find hope in one another, and the nation as a whole. Underwood portrays, in her strong lyrics, a message that today’s society cannot lose hope, and through the images shown on screen and images created in the audience’s, mind she shows how hope can be rediscovered.
The music video zooms through about fifty images and videos, which all touch the audience’s heart. Most of the images and videos show are tearjerkers, however with Underwood’s strong tension and powerful lyrics incorporated into the video, it turns the initial feelings into something different. No matter how the viewers see these videos, the artist keeps the video on a positive note, by flashing in and out on the singer in all white the audience is remembering that even through all the terrible things the nation has gone through we still stand, united and hopeful.When the nation experienced the 9/11 attacks, today’s society rediscovered hope by coming together as one. Cortes states in her article that, “Hope can be rediscovered in many ways, however the only way we can get there is together” (Cortes 29).
The world knows that in order to rediscover and keep hope, the community must become one, and Underwood presents that through her strong images. Throughout Carrie Underwood’s music video, “See You Again” the audience is taken through a whirlwind of emotions and finally let off the emotional roller coaster with an overwhelming feeling of hope.The music video uses strong tension, powerful lyrics and many images to let the audience know that today’s society has conquered so much in the past, that the nation must keep a positive mindset regardless of indecencies of the world and never become hopeless. Underwood has such a personal connection to this song, and has touched the community’s heart with this single. This music video will be a reminder to today’s society that the community must become united as one to find and keep hope in life, no matter what the world dishes out.
