Growing up, everyone dreams of coming from somewhere else. Maybe you imagined being born in Atlantis or being raised by unicorns. There’s a playful nature to these fantasies, but sometimes they belie a darker reality.
Meskerem Mees takes us through an imagined origination with her single, “Where I’m From”. The track, from her debut album Julius, mixes whimsical imaginations with a more bitter, darker undertone.
The music video starts with a young girl in a gym about to perform some acrobatics. But her mind flits away to another world where she becomes a paper cutout version of herself. The lyrics follow a repeated construction of “Where I’m from, _____.” But where she’s from is not here.
At times, light and childlike, but it sometimes delves in a chilling direction. “Where I’m from, the strong, they live off the weak,” she proclaims. It’s a stark reality that jars with the other happier lines.
Even the instrumental moments bring in a melancholic tonality. A cello cries its musical line; a lone guitar sighs its short-lived melody.
This is Meskerem Mees’ escape. Her clear, strong voice lulls us in so we can see where she wishes she was from.
Watch “Where I’m From” below.
Ben is an advertising Madman who spends his days with words and music. When he’s not writing for his supper, he’s eating it at some of NYC’s most interesting restaurants.
