Rachel Sitler

Hellmers

SCC English Compostion II

3 Oct. 2021

“If You Love Her”

“If You Love Her” is a song about the ups and the downs of a deep loving relationship.

Every relationship, whether it be parent-child, boyfriend-girlfriend, or even best friends, they all

have their ups and downs. When people lose a relationship where they felt such a deep love, they

feel fragile. The original "If You Love Her" by Forest Blakk video appeals to parent-child

relationships where the parent is no longer living, and the other version "If You Love Her" by

Forest Blakk (feat. Meghan Trainor) video appeals to couples.

Both versions of the song were made by Forest Blakk. The original version was released

on September 30, 2020, and the remake with Meghan Trainor was released on April 9, 2021.

While the songs were not released on the same date, they were released very close together.

The original “If You Love Her” by Forest Blak, starts the video off with a picture of girl

and her dad titled “Me + Dad :)”. The video then zooms out and that picture is hanging on the

wall of a church, while the girl sits alone in a wedding dress. She looks up and all of the sudden

her dad is standing there. He reaches out for her and she takes his hand. They appear in all sorts

of settings: in a field, the living room, the woods, and the beach. The video focuses on the dad

and daughter while they are in the field and in the woods, in particular. While in the field, they

stand there and enjoy each other’s company. The video takes a quick break from the field and

flashes back to the living room, where the daughter has fallen asleep while in the comfort of her

father. While in the woods, the dad always seems to be behind the daughter, like he is watching
and protecting her. At one point she is walking in the woods and turns to look at her father, but

he is not there; he appears in front of her when she turns back around. The two walk around the

woods while enjoying each other’s company, but then the video takes a quick break by showing

the father standing in all of the settings by himself; almost as if he is just watching the world go

by. It then proceeds to shallow the daughter in the same settings by herself, as if she is with her

father. The video then goes back t them, but they are in a car. It is like a flashback memory of

teaching the daughter how to drive, except now they are older. They then walk to the edge of a

cliff. They look at each other smiling, but then all of a sudden the grown daughter is now a little

girl holding her dad’s hand. The camera then circles around, and she is grown again. She is now

walking away, and turns to look at her dad. Her dad then vanishes piece by piece into the air. The

video then goes back to the picture on the wall in the church, except the daughter is no longer

sitting there.

The remake of the video “If You Love Her” by Forest Blakk (feat. Meghan Trainor) is all

about a couple being faithful and growing old together. The video starts with a little ballerina

music box spinning. It then continues to two people touching hands, connecting, and hugging.

The video shows the husband just comforting his wife, and then he gives her a note along with a

seed for an acorn tree. The seed is planted, and the couple joins hands to watch it row over time.

The couple then goes to the tree and carves a heart which says “forever and a day”. The music

box reappears, but now there is a man with the ballerina, whie they dance together. In that part,

the video makes a point of showing the tree through the window of the room with the music box.

The video zooms in on the woman’s face and slowly ages her, while playing flashbacks. It ends

with the couple being older standing in front of the tree they planted while the song sings “...if
you stand side by side then you’ll make it...” . They are standing there hugging each other

admiring the relationship they have, represented by their tree they planted.

The messages in each song are the same, but they appeal to different ideas. The original

appeals to a parent-child relationship, when the parent is no longer here. The remake appeals to

couples. The songs sings “...so if you’re the one she lets in. Take it. If she givs you her heart

don’t you break it…,” these lyrics are meant to mean that if someone gives you all of their love,

do not ruin it.

Both videos use pathos to provoke emotion. In the original video, pathos is used by

showing a girl and her dad. The dad is no longer here, but the video makes it seem like he is

there; instead he is just watching over her. Pathos is used because at one point in the video, it

flashes back to her being a little girl, and then the dad slowly starts to vanish into the sky. In the

remake, the video is about a couple being faithful towards each other. Pathos is used because the

vidoe goes on to show that they stay faithful to each other and grow old together, same as the

tree they planted when they were younger.

Ths song is about no matter what type of relationship it is, there are challenges. The

songs are the same, but appeal to different people: parent-child relationships and couples.
 Work Cited

“Forest Blakk - If You Love Her (Official Music Video).” YouTube, 30 Sept. 2020,

youtu.be/wDaiiluanQc.

“Forest Blakk - If You Love Her (Feat. Meghan Trainor) [Visualizer].” YouTube, 23 Apr. 2021,

youtu.be/1JiPxYAcqN4.