Self-hatred can be paralyzing, as it can keep you from the things and people you love in an attempt to sink you that much lower. In Mikey LaSusa's debut single, "Good Enough," he actively fights against that voice, while the accompanying music video takes us back to his childhood as he learns to accept his insecurities so he's able to overcome them.
The song begins with a count off from LaSusa, automatically grounding listeners in its authenticity. We watch as different drawings flash across the screen, before seeing him in hand-painted airplanes pajamas as he recreates a scene from his childhood. He sings the first lyrics of the song, "You're not good enough I know," while old footage of himself as a toddler is intermingled with his present day, almost as if he's talking to his younger self. This continues to happen throughout the video as LaSusa comes to terms with his self-hatred and tries to fight it. This is conveyed as the video progresses and we watch as he emulates his younger self in wanting to win a rollerskating race, trying to hit a baseball, and learning how to read. He struggles at the beginning of each activity, but once he starts believing in himself he comes out on top.
"The whole thing was like crayons," LaSusa says in reference to the DIY nature of the video, as the majority of it was filmed on an iPhone and each actor was a friend from college. "We got into the mindset of what we did as kids and what we were insecure about. It was so nostalgic and so insane cause I have not felt that way since I was like ten." The feeling of childlike wonder that LaSusa experienced while filming is prevalent throughout, transporting viewers back to their own childhood.
Though the video has a compelling plot, it is LaSusa's skilled instrumentalism as a guitarist, as well as his prevalent vocal, that carries the song. The vulnerability that he conveys in the fingerpicked verses, is only amplified by his passion in the chorus as he tries to convince himself of his worth, "Cause you’ve hated without loving yourself for way too long / Holding out for someone to pick you up off the ground / You keep looking outside but you’ve got it all wrong." This guitar-driven ode to overcoming intrusive thoughts is a culmination of a life’s worth of self-doubt, packaged in one succinct song, proving to himself that he is, indeed, good enough.
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