Bethany Burkard

Professor Cassel

English Composition II

6 October 2019

Two Music Videos Analysis

One Way or Another is not the lighthearted song it appears to be. While the original by Blondie

is popularly seen as a fun, playful song, the Until the Ribbon Breaks rendition gives us new insight into

the implications behind its lyrics. One Way or Another was written from the perspective of a stalker,

and while one of these videos makes the dark underbelly of the song obvious, I believe both were

intended to have this meaning.

Almost everyone has heard One Way or Another, and no one thinks anything of it. I used to sing

“One way or another, I’m gonna find ya, I’m gonna get ya…” as if those were completely normal

things to say to another human being, and not really quite creepy. In an interview with Entertainment

Weekly, Blondie singer Debbie Harry mentioned that her experience with a stalker inspired One Way

or Another. However, in the same interview, she also mentions that she intentionally wrote the song to

be lighthearted. And certainly, most people who listen to the song agree. Like me, most assume it's

about a persistent, aggressive woman who's determined to get with her love-interest. So, what are the

viewers meant to assume? Is the element of danger still in the song or was Debbie Harry trying to mask

it completely? The music video gives us some hints. But regardless of whether you think the meaning

was meant to remain apparent or not, one thing is certain: what Blondie left ambiguous, Until the

Ribbon Breaks made starkly obvious.

In Blondie's music video (1), Debbie Harry and her band are performing the song on stage while

to the side, the camera frequently pans to a couple who are dancing. It seems like a completely normal

live performance-- except throughout the video, the dancing couple become progressively more

aggressive. We see them go from dancing, to dance-shoving, until eventually the woman is flailing
around in the man's arms as he holds her tight. It almost seems as if she is trying to escape. But, it never

at any point ceases to be dancing, and unless you are watching very closely, you might not think

anything of it. No explanation is made of the dancing couples’ behavior, and like the song itself, Debbie

Harry leaves us to come to our own conclusions.

This video uses pathos to appeal to the viewers. Debbie Harry’s vocals, unlike her recorded

song, become extremely aggressive and passionate toward the end. The dancing couple’s fighting

becomes more and more aggressive, including hair pulling and hitting. You get the sense that

everything is getting amped up. It also uses ethos—if the dancing couple is representative of a stalker

and his victim, we are watching an abusive relationship play out before our eyes. I believe the intended

audience for the video was American young people in their twenties to thirties—which appear to be the

only kind of people represented in the video. In an entire crowd of fans, there are no people of color, or

anyone past the age of forty.

In the video from Until the Ribbon Breaks (2), scenes from the movie Black Swan are spliced

together to tell a unique story. Interestingly, Black Swan is about a dancer (played by Natalie Portman)

who becomes so consumed with jealousy over another dancer and so obsessed with her performance

that she eventually loses her mind. Interesting source material, but that's not the story that this music

video tells. The video opens with Natalie Portman dancing alone in a dark room. A man approaches her,

but we are only able to see his back, and the screen fades to black as the song begins. We then see a

couple, laying together on a bed and kissing. The woman is not Natalie Portman, and it is unclear

whether this man is the man we just saw in the previous scene or not. Very quickly the scene changes

once again, and from then on the video is entirely scenes of Portman. The scenes change constantly

from her dancing alone again in a dark room, to her wandering through a club looking confused and

distraught, and possibly even drugged. The scene splits at breakneck speed so that we see her face

constantly shifting between her heavy, dancer makeup, and being makeup free. At around the 2:55

mark words appear on the screen, a quote by Novala Takemoto: “Obsession makes everything
possible.”

It’s unclear whether this video is trying to tell a story of its own, or if it’s simply a homage to

the source movie. We watch Portman through intimate closeups of her face, see into her private dance

practices, and even watch as she kisses someone. While we are watching Portman clearly feeling

unstable, it feels as though we are the ones watching her too closely. Or perhaps it is the man we saw at

the beginning who is watching her, and we are now seeing from his perspective. At one point during

the scenes in the club, these lyrics play in the background: And I will drive by your house, and if the

lights are all down, then I'll see who's around... The “I'll see who's around” plays exactly as Portman

walks away from a man she was just kissing, giving the impression that someone was watching her kiss

him.

This video is clearly open for interpretation, but one thing is obvious: it’s about obsession.

While the lyrics might have been masked when heard through Debbie Harry's aggressive, confident

vocals, this singer's voice is desperate, deep, and full of want. Suddenly, previously innocent lyrics

come across as being much more insidious. This video uses pathos to appeal to viewers. This version’s

entire appeal is its emotional implications—the dark side of an energetic, upbeat song. It also uses

logos. Watching the video, we can clearly see that either Portman’s, or whoever’s watching her, grip on

reality is not very solid. The way the camera loses focus and supersedes a different image onto

Portman’s face implies hallucinations, either from drug usage or mental illness. I believe the intended

audience is the same kind of people who enjoyed Black Swan. The movie was polarizing because of its

disturbing content, and it was more popular among millennials. However, this unique cover could also

be appealing to baby boomers who had loved the 1979 original.

There is another subtle, but important, difference between the two songs. In Blondie's version,

the song switches perspectives for a short time from the stalker to the victim.

One way, or another, I'm gonna lose ya. I'm gonna trick ya trick ya trick ya trick ya!

One way, or another, I'm gonna lose ya. I'm gonna give you the slip!
I walked down the mall, Stand over by the wall

Where I can see it all, Or find out who ya call!

Lead you to the supermarket checkouts, Some specials and rat food

Get lost in the crowd--

This small and easy-to-miss verse (it only plays at the end) is the victim finally speaking and

standing up to her stalker, saying she's going to give him the slip and get away from him. Tellingly, this

verse is not in the Until the Ribbon Breaks rendition. The implication is clear. That song was sung from

the perspective of predator, not prey.

I have come to have a new perspective on this song. It is far more complicated and deeper than I

thought it was, and I appreciate Until the Ribbon Breaks for bringing light to the darker underside of

the lyrics.

WORKS CITED

1) BlondieClips. “Blondie - One Way Or Another (Official Music Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 6
Mar. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kg9LasvLFE.
2) BREAKS, UNTIL THE RIBBON. “Until The Ribbon Breaks - One Way Or Another (Blondie
Cover).” YouTube, YouTube, 29 Oct. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpHWbUhVY2w.