There are times in life when external events come along and cause great hardship, and there are other times when adversity is more self-imposed. Irish singer-songwriter Sive grapples with the latter dynamic in her latest single “Do It All The Time,” which has a new video filmed and directed by James Byrne.
In the song, she remarks on her tendency to make self-sabotaging decisions in dealing with mental health. With lyrics that speak to commonly held sentiments regarding emotional distress, she writes, “I’m scared to be honest, because I don’t know what you’ll say / I don’t know what I think you’ll think, but I’ll make something up anyway.” Her words reflect an unfortunately prevalent feeling of wanting to avoid appearing weak in the face of pain, encapsulated in the hook where she sings, “I do it all the time / I don’t know why.”
Keeping with the self-defeating theme, the song’s video features Sive sitting in a chair while being controlled by strings like a marionette. We soon see that the person pulling the strings from above is another version of herself, dressed all in black. The imagery communicates the idea that oftentimes, there is a part of ourselves that urges us to play a certain role in society, even if it goes against what is true. One of the most striking moments of the video comes toward the end, when the puppet version of Sive, who has been struggling uncomfortably with the strings throughout, finally gets loose but then pauses for a moment before putting her arms back in the bounds. The song and video do an impressive job of making us question our tendencies to listen to negative aspects of ourselves. The poignant messaging accompanied by engaging music make “Do It All The Time” a definite success for Sive.
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