“More Like Her” is perhaps the most intimate, clearly personal single of Miranda Lambert’s career thus far, so it’s no surprise to see the music video for the song follow suit. Taking a cue from Sugarland’s in-your-face work in “Stay,” the best parts of this effort center the attention squarely on the singer, whose understated acting adeptly portrays the mixed bag of emotional negatives articulated by the song. The cross-fading transitions between shots work well to the same end, creating a sense of sensory disorder as Lambert’s sights, memories and varying emotions all run together.
Things get a little too artsy for my taste when she starts inexplicably hanging around with a birdcage, and the extensive shots of her playing guitar feel forced and somewhat clash with the more interesting sights of her sulking around in the apartment and confessing to the camera. Furthermore, while Lambert’s introspection is undeniably the centerpiece of the song, she also spends a fair amount of time dissecting her ex-love interest and his new girl, and the lack of any concrete image of those key characters leaves the video feeling a little emotionally incomplete.
On the whole, though, the singer’s onscreen presence is pronounced enough to keep her from getting lost in the shuffle, and her emotional complexity here is likely to endear her to country fans who may have written her off as a one-dimensional “tough girl.” Lambert’s character may be unlucky in love – see the strangely effective penultimate shot of her pushing the “13” elevator button – but she’s smart enough to share her misfortunes with her audience, and that will pay off well for her.
Directed by Randee St. Nicholas
Grade: B
Wow that’s a really different looking video for her. It’s great to see her release something different, hopefully it’ll help bring in fans who like you said written her off. The only thing that bothered me was the bird cage what was the point of it?
I think the birds were lovebirds? They looked they were “kissing”. So she was observing the birds as in the lyrics she’s observing her ex and his new girl. At least that’s how I took it.
I liked the video, it was very different than her other videos. Except it’s actually to her video for “Bring Me Down”:
But I like “More Like Her” better as a video and song.
Lovebirds? Or a caged heart? ;)
I like this video … a lot.
One of Ran’s best songs… although all are great. This one shows a different side of her that hopefully will get more people to stand up and take a look at THE next best thing in Nashville!
Nice analysis, Dan, although I disagree with parts of it.
I think it was a neat juxtaposition to have the cage birds in contrast with the wide, empty spaces of her apartment. Lambert tries to fill up the room with her craft (hence the shots of her strumming the guitar) and her belongings, but still feels unfulfilled at the end of the clip. That the birds are somewhat limited in their cage, and that she herself is limited despite the wide expanses of her living space, shows that she hasn’t found a balance yet between her independence and a healthy relationship. (Even in the chorus of the song, she seems to be compromising and conflicted.)
I prefer not seeing concrete images of the other characters involved. Although most of us know better, some of the general country music public still doesn’t see Lambert as anything other than a volatile vixen. This is one of the first glimpses of her as a vulnerable human being, and it’s a rare glance into the fact that all those explosive feelings she often portrays always have another, more introspective, thoughtful side. In other words, these feelings have consequences and internal repercussions. Anger’s a secondary emotion, and this clip shows it. It’s clear that, at least on rare occasions, the narrative view/character that Lambert has crafted is wrong or flawed as an individual in some way.
I’d give it an A-. It’s more well-crafted than most country videos, and kudos to Sony for releasing a video for a 4th single (and a ballad!) and pushing it close to the Top 40 in just 6 weeks.
The ex’s new girl isn’t new. She’s the girl he cheated on with the singer. She forgives him and takes him back, and he dumps the singer. While he was cheating he “had it all/for a pretty little while/then you realized you wanted what you had.”