Grace Lipsinic

Prof. Riley

English Comp. 2

27 April 2021

Two Versions Of “Lay It On Me”

When one thinks of love, perspectives on the matter seem to differ from person

to person.  “Lay It On Me” By Vance Joy and Said The Sky both illustrate this without

fault. While Vance Joy takes on a more emotional approach to love, Said The Sky

does the opposite, and uses a logistical approach. Though both versions are

essentially the same song, their meanings are quite different; Vance Joy sings for the

longing of trust from his lover, while Said The Sky expresses what trust looks like and

what it can accomplish in relationships. With these two versions to “Lay It On Me”,

both significantly differentiate their take on love through their contradicting rhetorical

appeals, expressions of their videos, and the rhythms of their songs.

The original version to “Lay It On Me”, By Vance Joy, first came out 4 years

ago, in 2017.  The remixed version, By Said The Sky, soon followed a few months

later. In the original version, the tones of the lyrics, including the acting in the video,

were expressed quite sad and melancholy. Vance Joy sings about his pain of loving

someone who doesn’t trust him fully.  On the other hand, the remixed version, By
Said The Sky, has a completely different take on “Lay It On Me”, which is expressed

through its upbeat rhythm and tone, including the content of the music video. Said

The Sky conveys what a trusting relationship should be like. In both versions of “Lay

It On Me”, they sing about the importance of trusting your significant other, but the

audiences for each song does differ; Vance Joy sings for those who have guarded

hearts. While Said The Sky gives reassurance to those (who need reminding) of what

they are doing right in their approach to love. 

The original version of “Lay It On Me,” starts off with Vance Joy in a dark,

eerie, red-lighted room. He sings, “I’m so gone,” “anyone can see that I’m wasted.”

This statement, including the red lighting, indicates that he is drunk and feeling very

frustrated. Vance Joy just wants to know what’s going on inside his lover’s head. He’d

be happy if she could “write it [all] on a piece of paper” if she had to, and “leave it in

[his] coat” or “somewhere in a place [she] knows [he’d] find it.” This infers that his

lover has trouble expressing her feelings, especially her feelings of doubt. In the

video, he approaches her while she is in bed. She then stands up and lifts the blanket

to disappear from his vision and disappears. This then infers to the audience that the

woman in the video has put a blockade between her and Vance Joy’s love and is too

scared to let him any closer to her heart. The woman also appears in multiple

different personas and outfits to protect her true identity. Towards the end of the

video Vance Joy cries, “If all [your] defenses come down, oh baby, baby, will you lay

it all on me now?” “Will you lay it all on me now?” This statement makes the listener

feel the depth of his frustration and sadness.  

 On the other hand, the music video to Said The Sky’s version of “Lay It On Me”

starts of in the deserts of Arizona. The man in the video is driving around in an old,

black sportscar while the woman is in the passenger seat, smiling, and putting her

head put the window. The initial approach to this video is set out very positively, with

the warm setting leaking through to the audience. Throughout the video, they (the

man and woman) are very intimate. They share the wheel, hug, play fight, and make

pit stops together. This infers that the relationship these two have is a very happy

one; one where they love each other very openly. Towards the end of the video, they

are leaning on each other, while Vance Joy sings, “will you lay it all on me now?” The

ending scene proves that it’s okay to “lean” on another from time to time. It conveys

to the audience that all relationships will have its ups and downs, however, in the

end, acquiring a level of trust in a relationship is absolutely essential.

With both versions of “Lay It On Me”, each use different appeals to further

express the importance of their purpose to their audiences. “Lay It On Me”, By Vance

Joy, takes on a more emotional approach (appeal to pathos), while Said The Sky’s

remix, takes on a more logistical approach (appeal to logos). Throughout Vance Joy’s

version, his instrumentals were at a lower and softer pitch so the audience could

focus on his words. His vocal expression, as well as the acting within the video,

significantly helped appeal to the audience and tap them into an emotional state. On

the contrary, Said The Sky’s remix of “Lay It On Me” was anything but an emotional

appeal. The instrumentals in this particular version continuously overwhelm the lyrics,

so, therefore, one could focus on more than just the words. The video of this remix

also heavily supports their logistical appeal because it shows, to the audience, that
this is what love should look like, and says, “No, one shouldn’t settle for anything

less.”

Presented with both versions of “Lay It On Me,” it is clear that the original song

conveys a relationship with a lack of trust, while the remixed version conveys a

relationship containing trust. Each song calls for their partner to “lay it on me” (their

thoughts, feelings, and emotions) but only the remixed version actually does so. The

remixed version, By Said The Sky, shows the couple embracing their relationship

because they trust each other. They constantly look at each other fondly and believe

that their love will only heal each other, not hurt them. With Vance Joy’s original

version, he is constantly chasing his lover’s trust all the way up until the end of the

video. Up until his true love’s identity finally appears. These two versions both

illustrate trust on both ends of the scale and exemplifies what kind of pain and/or

happiness one will have, depending on if one trusts their lover.  

 “Lay It All On Me” By Vance Joy and the remixed version By Said The Sky,

both share the theme of the importance of trusting those you love, but their

approaches to embracing this theme, are vastly different. With the original version’s

slower melancholy tune, Vance Joy was able to express, by appealing with heavy

emotion, what trust could accomplish. While the second(remixed)version, By Said

The Sky, lays out an upbeat and fast-paced tune, which helps convey, through logic,

what trust does accomplish. Both versions of “Lay It On Me” attract their own

particular audiences and each differs in their meanings, however, both can be found

enjoyable depending on the listener. 

 Works Cited

Joy, V. (2017, July 12). Lay It On Me. Retrieved February 14, 2021,

from  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXXD1Qxpisw  

Nation, C. (2017, October 25). Lay It On Me (Said The Sky Remix). Retrieved

February 14, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz3TTespHKk