All I Want // Kodaline
Kodaline’s ‘All I Want’ is a simple yet beautiful tune about the aftermath of, presumably, a breakup (although the lyrics could be interpreted as grieving the death of a loved one). The words read effortlessly as they ask the straightforward questions that anyone has after someone is gone: “If you loved me, why’d you leave me? / Take my body, take my body.” Steve Garrigan’s vocals are haunting when he sings, “you took my soul and wiped it clean,” and we hear the desperation overshadowing his small fragment of hope when he confesses, “All I want is, and all I need is / to find somebody, I’ll find somebody like you.” However, it is not the heartbreakingly moving song that caused such a stir in the media, but the music video which was published to Youtube in September 2012.
Warning: This video will make you cry. Hard. Every single time that you watch it. The 5-minute film presents you with a facially-disfigured man as he goes about his everyday life, and the prejudices that he experiences despite his warm heart. During the first two minutes, you see a typical day in the office where he works, where his colleagues stare, mock and generally avoid interaction with him. In particular, you notice the attention that he pays to a female associate who shuns him like everybody else. This reversal of observation is significant in how it depicts his visibly good nature, for, even though everyone stares at him for being repulsive, he stares at the woman only for her noble features. In his home, there is contrast to the loneliness he feels at work for he has a strong relationship with his (adorable) dog. This bond reminds you that dogs truly are man’s best friend, and that, to quote John Grogan’s Marley and Me, “A dog doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his.” (You will find the second video instalment very distressing if you fall in love with their friendship as much as you should.) After a confrontation with some colleagues, the woman agrees to walk home with our hero who, after initial awkwardness, builds a foundation for a relationship once she has seen past his face and got to know who he is inside.
What this video demonstrates so well is the value of inner-self, and how a good heart will eventually win over a pretty face. Before the video, you heard a song full of the despair and anguish that we all feel after losing somebody we love so much; the video adds a new dimension to the song with the story of a man who hasn’t lost anyone because nobody has ever got close enough to love him. As he clutches the photograph of his mother, I can only imagine the loneliness that one would feel when only a solitary person has cared for, listened to and loved them in their whole life. This thought is what brings tears to my eyes whenever I see this video, and I am eternally reminded of Lord Tennyson’s quote: “’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
P.S. Make sure to watch Part 2, where you’ll join the same character from Part 1 on his emotional journey to find his lost dog. Get the tissues ready!
Words by Nancy Davis