âGhost Of Youâ Music Video Concept
To absolutely no oneâs surprise, Iâm really digging 5SOSâ new album, and when I heard âGhost Of You,â I had an idea for a music video that completely crushed my soul and ruined any chance that I have at happiness, so, naturally, I had to share it with everyone on the internet. I originally had someone else in mind to play Ashtonâs love interest, but for your reading pleasure and overall convenience, I wrote it in the second person so that you can picture yourself. Youâre welcome. ;) The lyrics posted before each section of text are what I picture playing during that particular scene, timing-wise, if that makes sense. Feel free to play [and pause when necessary] as you listen. It makes it more painful. :-) (Also, trigger warnings are listed below. If you donât want to feel like itâs been spoiled/you do not personally find them necessary, you may scroll past them!)
TRIGGER WARNINGS: death, grieving
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As the video starts, itâs silent except for the quiet sounds of Ashton in his home. Heâs standing alone in the kitchen, hands spread on the counter, eyes focused on the sliding glass doors that lead to the backyard, looking at nothing in particular. Not far from him, the camera focuses on two coffee mugs on the counter, leaving Ashton and the kitchen blurred in the background. Itâs clear that theyâve been sitting there for a long time; one has a pale pink lip print on the rim of it. The camera doesnât move, but it does move its focus back on Ashton, who is now staring angrily at the mug before he closes his eyes, swallows, and collects himself, head hanging low. When he reopens his eyes and looks at the mug again, the anger floods back to his features and he hastily grabs it. The rest of the shotâ Ashton screaming and throwing the mug against the wall with all his mightâ is completely silent and in slow motion. Right before we see the mug hit the wall, the screen goes black and we hear the first guitar strums of âGhost of You.â
âHere I am, waking upâ still canât sleep on your side. Thereâs your coffee cup, the lipstick stain fades with time. If I could dream long enough, youâd tell me Iâd be just fine. Iâll be just fine.â
As the singing begins, we see you and Ashton at a pool. Itâs just the two of you and we hear nothing but the music, as we will for most of the video. Youâre sitting on the edge with your feet in the water, wearing a swimsuit, sunglasses, and a sun hat. Youâre reading a book while Ashton lounges around in the water. He starts touching the backs of your legs, wanting you to get in with him, but you just smile and playfully push him away. Ashton gets impatient and starts jokingly tugging on your legs now. Youâre laughing, not really taking him seriously, still focused on your book. Then he splashes you. You gasp in shock, but Ashton just smiles mischievously. Even though we canât actually hear you speak over the music, we can tell that youâre complaining about your book getting wet as you try to dry it off. Ashtonâs just laughing and soon, you are, too. You finally give in and rip off your hat and sunglasses, lunging at him. Youâre both in the water now, giggling and playing splashing like children, and Ashton somehow ends up behind you, arms wrapped around her torso and head on your shoulder. You stay like that for a while, admiring the view and enjoying each otherâs company.
âSo I drown it out, like I always do, dancing through our house with the ghost of you. And I chase it down with a shot of truth, dancing through our house with the ghost of you.â
The next shot is of you and Ashton sitting at the kitchen counter, coffee mugs nearby. You have your hair up, a pencil behind you ear, and your reading glasses on. Youâre working on something important. Ashton is next to you, half-heartedly writing lyrics, mostly looking at you. His head is rested in his hand as he watches you take a sip of your coffee, leaving the same pale pink lip print that we saw in the beginning of the video, the camera focusing on it from the same angle as the beginning of the video. A piece of hair falls in your face as you type away on your laptop, and Ashton moves it back behind your ear in the sweetest way. You look at him as he does so, his fingers trailing down the side of your face, to your chin, then finally up to your lips. You lose focus for just a moment, then gently push his hand away, knowing what heâs getting at, adamant about finishing your essay. You go back to working, and Ashton gets up to stand up behind you and rub your shoulders. You, clearly stressed about whatever youâre working on, close your eyes and enjoy it, but, although we canât actually hear you, we can sense your inner conflict as you whine his name in weak complaint. You really need to work. Then Ashton leans down and whispers something into your ear that we canât quite make out before quickly swooping you up in his arms and throwing you over his shoulder. You are wide-eyed and squealing with laughter, and Ashton walks you back to their room. Youâre protesting, but with no real conviction.
âCleaning up today, I found that old Zepplin shirt you wore when you ran away and no one could feel your hurt. Weâre too youngâtoo dumbâ to know things like love⌠But I know better now. So I drown it out, like I always do, dancing through our house with the ghost of you. And I chase it down with a shot of truth, dancing through our house with the ghost of you.â
The next shot is of You and Ashton driving. Youâre visiting your hometown and youâve been running errands all day. Youâre wearing an old Led Zepplin shirt and high waisted jeans. Arriving on the street of your childhood home, you park and attempt to fix your disheveled hair in the mirror, clearly not pleased with what youâre wearing or how you look seeing your entire family for the first time in so long. Ashton rolls his eyes playfully and grabs your chin to face him and we can tell that he tells you that you look fine. At that, you seem like you donât really take it to heart, but you thank him anyway and give him a quick kiss on the cheek. When you enter the house, everyone is happy to see the two of you, of courseâ your cousins, your aunts and uncles, your grandparents, and especially your mother. Your distaste for your appearance is long forgotten. Besides, Ashton thinks youâre prettiest when youâre around the people that you love.
âToo youngâtoo dumbâ to know things like love. Too young, too dumbâŚâ
Now weâre back to the poolâ you and Ashton are back to playing and splashing. He goes under water to escape your relentless water attacks, and when he comes back up, youâre gone. He looks around, confused and wiping the water off of his face. Everything is as you left it. The camera focuses on the book and hat still on the side of the pool.
The next shot is in the kitchen, and we see you and Ashton with your coffee mugs and writing again. The camera, once again, focuses briefly on your lipstick-stained mug.This time, Ashton seems pretty into the lyrics that heâs writingâ moreso than he was in the parallel sceneâ, and itâs your turn to admire him. You go to stand beside him, arms around his neck, chin on his shoulder. You smile softly against his cheek, eyeing the paper, seeming to like whatever it is that heâs writing. The camera zooms in close on Ashtonâs focused face and his frantic eyes following whatever it is heâs scribbling on the page. When heâs finished, he turns to acknowledge you, but when the camera zooms out, youâre gone. He isnât confused the way the he was when you disappeared in the pool, just extremely hurt as he turns back around and continues writing. The camera zooms in on the page as he scribbles, âGhost of You.â
In the next shot, weâre back at your childhood home, but the color tone is much different than the first time. Itâs dark. Itâs rainy and thereâs absolutely no sunshine. Ashton is outside alone in a suit, tie undone, bags under his eyes, smoking a cigarette. Heâs escaping something. All of your family members are there like they were last time, but they look drained, clad in all black. We see Ashton looking into the distance, lost in thought. The camera now closes up on the cigarette in his hand. From the side of the screen, we see your hand slowly and gently reach for his. This time, he doesnât even try to convince himself that youâre there and that youâll stay. He simply closes his eyes with deep breath, puts out his cigarette with his foot, and turns to re-enter the house without even looking in the direction of where he felt you. Once inside, everyone looks at him with pity, and you can tell that he feels a little uncomfortable. Uncomfortable and hurt. A hand grabs his, but this time, itâs real. This time, itâs your motherâs. The camera is closed-up on her squeezing gently. He seems shocked by the gesture and he looks up from their interlocked hands, to her reassuring, crying face. He swallows back his own tears before the camera goes back to their hands and Ashton squeezes back.
So now weâve come full circle. The music has stopped and itâs silent. Ashton is sitting with his back against the wall, head in his hands, broken glass around him. Although the sound is back, we canât hear anything aside from his broken sobs. Then we get these short, seemingly random snippets of these vivid flashbacks in Ashtonâs mind: You and him walking out of a restaurant holding hands one night. You getting into their car, listening to the radio, laughing. He has one hand on the wheel and one hand on your leg. The flashbacks are bright and loud and kinda sporadic, as we focus on the memories, and current Ashton, frustrated, trying to block them out. In the flashbacks, the camera is zooming in on Ashtonâs hand, then your face, then his face, then the city, all in random order. Finally, the camera stops on you and Ashton looking at each other and laughing. Itâs a picture perfect scene, until you turn to face the front. Your smile instantly fades and your eyes are wide with fear. The last thing that we see in the shot is a bright light coming towards the two of you, and you screaming, âASHTON!â before the screen goes completely back.
The final portion of the song begins to play, finishing in complete darkness.
âSo I drown it out, like I always do, dancing through our house with the ghost of you. And I chase it down with a shot of truth, that my feet donât dance like they did with you.â
After the song is over and the video has sat in silence and darkness for a little while, a sudden wide shot of Ashton in a vast park with a single tombstone appears. He doesnât say anything. He doesnât even cry. We only hear the wind and the leaves and the silence. The camera zooms in on his face and he doesnât look sad, just empty. Ashton sniffs and kicks at the ground a bit, hands in his pockets, not really knowing what to do. After a few more seconds of him twiddling his thumbs, looking everywhere except for where you now rest, he finally speaks. âI just-â he stops and exhales in frustration. âI donât really-â He rubs his face. He canât find the words. He turns to leave, but after a few steps, he turns back around, taking a deep breath. âI was waiting.â He says with conviction, nodding to himself. He looks away once again, desperately trying to continue. âI just- I was waiting.â His voice cracks at that. Heâs speaking much softer now. A few tears fall, but he sniffles and seemingly collects himself. We see him reach into his pocket, and set something on top of your grave stone, but we donât know what, as the shot is now of his back. It then switches to his face as he studies your grave once more before nodding in assurance and walking away. The shot is, once again, wide as we see Ashton disappear as he walks further away. Then, the camera finally cuts back to a shot of your tombstone, a beautiful diamond ring sitting on top. Cut to black.
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Me? Cry? Nope. Never. Ha. Ha ha. HA. Thanks for reading, dudes. Let me know what you think. Iâm sorry if I hurt you. It had to be done. ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ (It didnât have to be done, I just donât want to suffer alone. Misery needs company and all that.)
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