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Clara Wrazen

English 1201

Dr. Cassel

2 February 2022

All The Things She Said

In 2002, t.A.T.u. created the song “All The Things She Said” and following its release

became extremely popular with many people. Because of its popularity, many covers of this song

have been made including the one released in 2020 by Poppy, which sounds similar, but took the

song in a different direction. Poppy’s version of the song reflects a relationship that has ended

and that is negative, while t.A.T.u.’s version describes a relationship that is still going on and

that has a happy ending. Poppy’s “All The Things She Said” shares the same theme and

emotions as its predecessor by t.A.T.u., however, shows them in two very different ways. This is

done through a difference in the stories that are told within the songs as well as the visuals within

the videos that help to change how a listener or viewer sees the song.

The original version of the song that was created by t.A.T.u. was released in both Russian

and English but faced backlash regardless of the language it was in. This is because the director,

Ivan Shapovalov, created the story along with t.A.T.u. about a young lesbian couple. In the

video, the couple is standing in front of a wall and being stared at and heckled by a group of

strangers that are standing on the other side of a fence facing them. These strangers have

umbrellas leaving Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina, the main characters, out in the rain. As the

video progresses, the girls kiss, and the heckling gets worse until the rain stops. That's when the

girls walk around the wall and find an opening where they walk away from the strangers
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together. In this version of the song, pop elements are used, and the video helps to show a

relationship that has become stronger and ended happily. This is a contrast to the newer version

of this song.

Poppy’s 2020 version of the song has quite different undertones within it, despite the

original video by t.A.T.u. having a happy conclusion. In her video, Poppy starts in a padded

room in a stereotypical insane asylum. She starts very calmly until the first chorus starts. Then,

she starts acting crazy, alluding that the person she’s singing about is the one making her feel

like that. The song continues like this until the very end where Poppy goes back to being calm.

Through expressions and body language, it hurts Poppy to think about this person at all because

she doesn’t have them anymore. This cover has a lot of rock elements within the music, and the

video is about a relationship that has ended poorly.

The main change from t.A.T.u’s song to Poppy’s is the change in the story that each one

is telling. Within t.A.T.u’s song, lyrics such as “I keep closing my eyes but I can't block you out;

Wanna fly to a place where it's just you and me; Nobody else so we can be free” has a vastly

different meaning than Poppy’s does because one is about a healthy relationship, and the other is

about a breakup. In the original song, the lyrics reflect someone who is in love and who wants to

go somewhere where no one else can with their lover. This changes in Poppy’s cover, as the

singer wants to go to a place or a time where she can have her ex be with her again. Because of

the changes within the stories of each video, a different interpretation of each song is shown,

changing the feeling of the song. The story being told isn’t the only aspect of the videos that

changes the mood, however.

Despite both videos and songs being about a relationship, the visuals within each one also

depicts a vastly different mood for the song. Within t.A.T.u.’s video, the main characters can
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walk away with each other and have a happy conclusion, while in Poppy’s the main character

must deal with being broken up with and left alone. Because t.A.T.u’s video shows a happy

relationship, the video feels more uplifting, and the lyrics have a happier mood to them. Poppy’s

video feels more somber, and a viewer can tell that she’s upset giving the video a darker tone.

Because the tones of each video are very different, it changes how the song feels when it’s video

is being watched. This changes the meanings of each song from being about happiness in a

relationship to sadness after one is over.

Regardless of the tone that each of these videos has, pathos and logos have been used

within both to get each one’s story across. Within t.A.T.u.’s version of the song, visuals of

strangers heckling the couple appeal to people’s emotions. This helps to make the end of the

song feel happier as the characters get to go away from strangers and live their lives together.

This version of the song also uses logos to appeal to the viewer. This is because the watcher can

see that the couple is in a happy relationship with each other. This lets them know that the song

is about a happy couple and not one that doesn’t want to be together. This also allowed a very

wide audience to enjoy the song, but a younger group of people could enjoy it more, as the song

is about a relationship between teenagers.

Poppy’s version of the song uses pathos to show its claim. Within the newer version of

the song, Poppy is very emotive allowing the viewer to see that she is unhappy with what has

happened and feels bad for her because of it. Her emotion is also able to help the story be

understood by a viewer from an emotional point, as many people know what it’s like to have

gone through a breakup. Poppy’s emotions appealed to a crowd of young girls that have been in

a breakup before, as they can relate to how this feels.

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Although both t.A.T.u.’s and Poppy’s version of the song “All The Things She Said” explores

related topics of relationships, there is a noticeably substantial change within the stories and

visuals of each, allowing them to be viewed in two quite different ways. Because of these

differences, the songs have the same message but different audiences, as well as separate ways

that were used to get the message of the song out to those listening.

Works Cited

“All The Things She Said - Poppy.” YouTube, Uploaded by Poppy, 3 Jun. 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTvIG6gHMh0.

“t.A.T.u. - All The Things She Said (Official Music Video).” YouTube, Uploaded by tatu, 4 Dec.

2009.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mGBaXPlri8.