It’s been several years since Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube and became one of pop music’s biggest stars over the last decade. With being under such a direct spotlight in his life and career, Bieber as a performer and a person has probably experienced life in ways that only a few people can really understand. If you examine all of the artists who started their careers as children in the arts and entertainment fields, you would see a commonality between them; it is very difficult to be a child star that becomes so popular that they seem to have “everything”, and then as they grow older the media attention changes as well the public’s because they want you to stay the young artist you were on your first album. Every child star goes through this and Justin Bieber has released a new song and short music video to underscore that point. Bieber’s new songs is called “Lonely”, it was produced by Benny Blanco and it features child star, Jacob Tremblay, as a younger version of Bieber in the new video.
The production for the song is really soft sounding piano keys and there is not a big accompaniment of instruments. Bieber’s vocals on those piano chords are striking, and it gives the song a personal feeling, like he is singing directly to you. Throughout the video, “Lonely” is being performed by Justin Bieber today via recording. However, the imagery is not him singing the song, but rather creating the image of himself as a child and how lonely he felt during the early stages of his career.
The imagery starts with Jacob Tremblay sitting in a dressing room and staring at himself in the mirror. The song lyrics indicate that sometimes Bieber would look in the mirror when he was younger and he would not see himself, instead, the feeling was like he was seeing someone else. Producer Benny Blanco has a cameo in the video, he plays a stage manager type role. Blanco interrupts Tremblay’s starring in the mirror by waving at him and indicating that it is time for him to go on stage.
After Blanco exists, Tremblay stands and picks up a hockey stick and begins to dribble a tennis ball to the door leading to the main stage. This is one of the most striking images in the music video. It’s saddening because Tremblay’s acting indicates that he is trying to have a little fun to occupy his mind before he has to go on stage and perform with an intense feeling of loneliness inside. Playing hockey in that brief moment may have provided some relief for the young star, and viewers of the music video will see this as an example of a young person with an extraordinarily successful career, feeling empty both on and off stage.
As Tremblay walks up the stairs, his stroll is less than casual, it’s more of a feeling of him going to a place that will further his alienation rather than a place of artistic expression. He finally makes his way to center stage when the camera shifts focus from him onto Justin Bieber at his current age sitting alone in the theater. Bieber’s expression is serious and is a demonstration of what can happen to a person mentally and emotionally when they work so hard for something at a young age, they lose a part of themselves in the work, and there is never a way to compensate for that.
Justin Bieber’s “Lonely” is a sincere song and music video, viewers will learn about the singer’s mindset and how the extreme loneliness affected him throughout his life. The music video is about self-reflection, and that is one of the hardest things to do in life. Some things occur in life that are not easy to forget, and it takes time and effort to come to terms with those things mentally and emotionally. Bieber’s release of this song and music video is his attempt to do just that.
