I listen to music...alot. I watch music videos...even more. Sometimes I watch a video that sparks a story in my mind. It happened once before...
HERE. And it happened again recently.
I know this song is rather old but that should make no difference. Good music is good music. Good video directing is good video directing.
I...LOVE...THIS...SONG!! Between this one and Addiction, I'm the biggest Kanye fan ever. But, since Vashtie Kola did a
cover video for Addiction, I thought it would be overkill to do a story to it too.
There were 3 seperate videos made for the Flashing Lights song, but the one below is the third and final version. Spike Jonze and Kanye did the directing for this one. I have always been inspired by the simplicity of these visuals yet the depth of the song and so I wrote a short story about it...like to hear it? Hear ya go:
Penelope was my real name, but no one ever called me that, especially not him. His names for me were something we shared in secret and they almost always were adjectives. Gorgeous, Sexy, Adorable, Delectable. I really liked the last one. He was creative in that way. Every Thursday, he came cruising by in one of those expensive, hard to pronounce cars of his to pick me up. The first time I met him, he told me we were in the backseat of a Landaulet. The second time, a Pagani is what drove us to the hotel downtown. By the 5th Thursday, I was a pro at identifying Andrei Gikhlov, Russian billionaire, from 100 yards away.
“Turn around and face me.”
“Like this?”
“Yes, now take the rest of your clothes off.” He commanded. I did what he wanted then looked out our villa window and examined the blue waves, rocking and splashing against one another. It looked electric and surreal. We had taken his private plane to Florida for the weekend and although it was my first time on a plane, I tried my best to hide the nervousness. Andrei said this was a special occasion and it would also be worth my time so I stepped out of my comfort zone.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” He asked.
“Of course. What I don’t understand is how your wife doesn’t appreciate something like this?” The sky was getting dark but the beach dwellers didn’t budge. I removed my black, lace brassiere but he wasn’t paying attention.
“There’s no tangible value in this, that’s why.” He said to himself, staring at the wedding band on his left finger. “If she can’t take that black sand, that clear water, that orange sunset home and brag about how much it cost, she has no need for it.”
“Sounds like a spoiled bitch to me. Not someone who can do the things that I can do for you.” I crawled across the bed sheets and planted myself between his legs.
“Remember I said we needed to talk about us?” His tone became serious.
“I remember. That’s the whole point of this trip isn’t it?” I giggled in response. He got up and put his shirt and pants back on.
“I’ll be right back.” He said and quickly left the room. I dived to the other side of the bed, reaching for the phone.
“Hey. Are you sleep?” I asked Shayla after dialing her number.
“Sort of. What do you want?”
“I’m at his villa.”
“And?”
“And, he just left the room. I think he’s going to propose when he gets back. I told you my time was coming. You gotta pay your dues, that’s what I always say.” I couldn’t stop smiling. Who knew this was the way my life would turn out. I was born to a drug addicted mother and when I was fourteen, she and my eleven year old brother both died from an overdose. I became a runaway instead of a ward of the state. A week after I turned fifteen, I saved this woman from a brutal beating by a “customer” and that same day she took me in and treated me like a little sister, eventually showing me how to make my own money.
“Honey, I told you I don’t think he’s going to do that.”
“Why else do you think he would bring me all the way out here?”
“To kill you maybe. Not to propose. You’re not the wifey type.”
“I deserve this. It’s gonna happen. I can’t keep living with you for the rest of my life. So, your jealousy needs to just take a back seat.” I told her.
“What was it he said exactly, Miss I Got it All Figured Out?” Shayla asked.
“I told you. Last night, he said it was wonderful spending time with me and he wished the night would never end.”
“And you translate that to ‘I want to marry you’? Was it before or after your…um…lovemaking?” At first she burst into laughing until realizing that I only remained silent on the other end.
“Listen to me. I put a knife in your purse before you left. The one that cute little man gave me with his initials on it.”
“The one you stole from that cute little man.” I corrected.
“Watch yourself honey.” Just as she hung up, Andrei returned to the room with a bottle of water. My hand was in my bag, checking to see if Shayla was telling the truth.
“I have a business meeting in the morning, then a flight back to Russia, back to my wife. Damn, why can’t life always be this easy. I hope you liked it here. I wanted our last night to be fun.”
“Last night? Fun?” I smiled weakly and darted my eyes all around the room. I looked for a ring box, some flowers, something that indicated this moment would display the significance it was supposed to. But he just stood at the door, bottled water in hand, black suit pants unbuttoned and white collared shirt open.
“You still want to marry me right? We still love each other and you’re not leaving without me?” I asked.
“What are you talking about? You thought I loved you?”
“You said that, didn’t you mean it?”
“Pretty girl, I never said I loved you. You’re a prostitute.” He said in an almost gentle tone. I fell down on the edge of the bed, then slid to the floor. It took several seconds before the tears flowed visibly.
“I’m supposed to just continue living like this? Cold as stone?” He didn’t speak. He didn’t even look at me. He was too busy pulling money from his wallet and putting his shoes back on. He placed 8 - $100 dollar bills next to my ear, on the bed, kissed my forehead and headed toward the door.
“Oh by the way beautiful, there’s a plane ticket for you at the front desk under the name ‘Lovely’. I think it leaves in an hour. I’m going down to the bar. It was fun…really.” I took a deep breath and wiped my face. I rose and walked to him with confidence. I kissed his lips softly, then shoved the monogrammed carving knife into his side and dragged it across his stomach. Behind me I heard the sound of the calming ocean violently thrashing its waves onto the shore.
