As a child, you look up to few people more than your older siblings. When I was little, my sister would tell me to hop, and I’d jump as high as I could to impress her. While we’ve grown into pretty different people, I still look to her for guidance and support. In Greer’s latest music video, audio_77, the group’s vocalist, Josiah Ziegler, sings about what it’s like to watch an older sibling escape an abusive household, leaving you behind.
In the video, Ziegler is surrounded by toys from the late ’90s and early 2000s, providing some context for the song. Considering the band’s members are all in their early to mid-twenties, the toys featured in the video are from their own childhoods. Ziegler sings about an experience through the lens of a child.
In the first verse, Ziegler sings about how hard life is getting, “Tired and shaking/ Close my eyes and wonder why/ The light gets colder.” This verse provides the lead-up to the next verse in which he pleads, “Take me with you/ Open up the door and hold/ The light in clear view.”
This line is especially powerful because it refers to the previous verse where Ziegler sings, “the light gets colder,” commenting on the light of life and the joy of living as a child. But, in saying, “Open up the door and hold/ The light in clear view,” he also refers to the age-old saying: “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Ziegler pleads for his sibling to take him with them, guiding him to happiness and freedom from his toxic household.
The refrain repeats, “Every time I close the door at night/ Part of me is on the other side.”
These lines speak to the closeness of the sibling and the narrator, presumably Ziegler. He sings that without his sibling, he doesn’t feel complete.
In the outro, he repeats, “Please don’t get up to leave,” leaving the listener with a feeling of guilt. This part of the song is even sung in a manner reminiscent of a wail, reinforcing the idea that the listener is being begged to stay.
To Greer, this short music video seems to have served as a simple preview of the release due on January 16th, but the song is much more than that. It is a heartbreaking tale of childhood abuse and the impossible decisions that children are forced to make in dire situations.
It’s an anthem to childhood trauma, and it’s something you should listen to right now.
