Inferiority is something that most have felt to some degree over the course of their lives. In Orla Gartland‘s newest song, “More Like You,” she grapples with the insecurity she feels when she compares herself to her best friend’s best friend, while remaining curious as to who that friend truly is. It’s in the video, directed by both Gartland and fellow musician Greta Isaac, that we get to see the relationship between insecurity and curiosity play out as Gartland and dancer Hannah Hornsby quite literally dance around the two conflicting emotions.
The video begins with Gartland standing on her own as she sings about admiring the way her friend’s friend sings and thinks. The choice to use pulsating synths creates an air of curiosity that propels the song, while piano or guitar would’ve dampened the mood, making it more of a ballad. We follow Gartland to the darker side of the room as the lyrics become less about her admiration and more about her insecurity, “All this feeling second best / It’s got me by the throat / I know / That I’ve been obsessing in the worst way.” While “More Like You” was written from a personal place, we are still able to relate to the feeling of inferiority that comes from comparing yourself to others, whether it be with a friend, a colleague, or a total stranger.
As easy as it is to compare yourself to a stranger, it’s just as easy to take advice from one, as Gartland brings us to the chorus singing, “Oh, I heard it from a woman on the internet / She told me to eat well and try to love myself / Then maybe I won’t wish that I was someone else.” As the chorus ends with her want to be more like this other woman, we watch as she walks in front of a window with warm light back-lighting her, almost angelically, juxtaposing the lyrics, as if to say she is more than enough.
It is in the second verse that Hornsby comes into frame and starts to dance alongside Gartland, incongruously. It’s not that they’re not in sync with one another, but rather cautious of the other’s role. Their relationship evolves as the song continues, the second chorus showing Hornsby guide Gartland’s movements at the request to be more like her. It’s in the final chorus that the two come and dance together in harmony, letting down their walls and leaning into their curiosity. This is only after we see Hornsby in the same position, leaning up against the wall, just as Gartland was at the beginning of the video, letting us in on the notion that maybe we’re all a lot more alike than we thought, complexities, insecurities and all.
Featured image by Karina Barberis
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