Waterparks deal with an obsessed fan in their new cinematic video for “Violet!” from their recently released album Greatest Hits.
Like many other songs from Alternative Press’s May cover stars, “Violet!” has a playful and upbeat sound while the lyrics reveal a darker tone.
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In an excerpt of their cover story interview with producer Zakk Cervini, Awsten Knight reveals the “low key” meaning behind “Violet!”
“Low key when you all hear that song, I’m not worried about it, but there is definitely some stalker situation going on and I made it a song,” Knights says. “Because that’s what you do when you’re a songwriter. So don’t stalk a songwriter or you’re going to get a song about it, probably. Just don’t do it.”
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While it has a happy, synth-infused sound, “Violet!” centers around someone invading the band’s personal space and freaking them out. The chorus includes an argument from that person as they claim they aren’t a stalker, just someone who really loves the band.
There is also a reference to the Netflix original show “You.” The show, which follows a stalker obsessed with different people has a similar sentiment to the story told in the song.
“‘Violet!’ is about a stalker situation that I had going on,” Knight told NME in a track-by-track analysis. “It’s like walking around your neighborhood and feeling watched and then you get a message online that was like ‘Saw you at blah blah blah blah blah.’ Or just a handful of weird confrontations that I am not looking for at all.”
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The theme of paranoia is not a new topic for Waterparks. Fellow Greatest Hits song “You’d Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out To Get You)” also touches on the same feelings of anxiety that feeling paranoid can cause.
The visual for ‘Violet!” reflects that anxiety-inducing paranoia. A figure with a gigantic eye for a head is constantly watching Knight, Geoff Wigington and Otto Wood. The eye is everywhere they are, from following Knight as he walks on the street to looking in their apartment’s peephole. In one scene, the trio are transfixed on their TV while the eye feeds the distracted Wood a handful of popcorn. The end of the video even reveals the eye has cameras inside their apartment.
Knight joined forces with Erik Rojas to co-direct the video. Rojas has worked closely with Waterparks before, notably on the videos for songs such as “You’d Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out To Get You)” and 2018’s “NOT WARRIORS/CRYBABY.” He also worked on Knight’s recent collab with DE’WAYNE for “Perfume.” Rojas also works with other artists in the scene such as Chase Atlantic, Lauren Sanderson and Herizen.
Read more: Waterparks release blatantly dark ‘Just Kidding” off ‘Greatest Hits’
Knight first teased the “Violet!” music video on social media, later calling it “one of the prettiest videos from Greatest Hits.”
VIOLET MUSIC VIDEO OUT IS OUT NOWWWWWW!!!!!!! ONE OF THE PRETTIEST VIDEOS FROM GREATEST HITS GO CALL ME HANDSOME IN THE COMMENTS https://t.co/v7iXLmkNtN
— DANNY FANDOM (@awsten) May 26, 2021
You can watch the video for “Violet!” below. Let us know your thoughts on the song in the comments!
“Violet!” lyrics
You freak me out
So I stay in
Do you see me now?
Do you have my pin?
No, I don’t know how
You’ll show up or when
But it freaks me out
So I stay in
You say “Boy I’m not a stalker
But I watch you when you’re walking
You call all kinds of people
Who aren’t me
You love me in such weird ways
Like when you lead me back to your place
And you do it without words
But don’t you worry ‘cause I heard everything.”
Now you’re looking through the peephole
On the door of my apartment
My panic’s at the ceiling
But I’m flat down on the carpet
You say
“Boy, I know you’re in there
And the way you tease is unfair
And this ain’t Misery
But I’d break your knees
To keep you here with me”
You freak me out
So I stay in
Alone on my couch
Watching Netflix again
It’s like I’m watching You
But it’s about me
And just to be clear
I mean the show, you’re Joe
“Boy I’m not a stalker
But I watch you when you’re walking
You call all kinds of people
Who aren’t me
You love me in such weird ways
Like when you lead me back to your place
And you do it without words
But don’t you worry ’cause I heard—”
Now you’re looking through the peephole
On the door of my apartment
My panic’s at the ceiling
But I’m flat down on the carpet
You say
“Boy, I know you’re in there
And the way you tease is unfair
And this ain’t Misery
But I’d break your knees
To keep you here with me”
Now you’re looking through the peephole
On the door of my apartment
My panic’s at the ceiling
But I’m flat down on the carpet
You say
“Boy, I know you’re in there
And the way you tease is unfair
And this ain’t Misery
But I’d break your knees
To keep you here with me”
I’m not leaving any signs
Like the kind you think you find