Every week, a slew of new music videos hits the web. Watching them at your desk is not time theft because you deserve it; think of it as a nice reward for surviving another work week. But what if you don’t have time to watch every video — maybe you have a deadline, a hungry pet, or other grown-up concerns. In consideration of your schedule, Lizzie and Kaitlyn bring you a series called One Video. Each week we’ll tell you “one video” you need to watch, why, and for how long.
This week’s video: “Quit” by Cashmere Cat ft. Ariana Grande
Kaitlyn: One thing that Lizzie and I are perfectly prepared to admit about this week’s One Video is that it is a lyric video. Is a lyric video technically still a music video? Duh. And this one’s good, because it has some extra stuff going on. In “Quit” by Cashmere Cat ft. Ariana Grande, a very traditional-looking lyric video (boring!) is being played on the screen of a MacBook (meta!), which is being transported across the country on a train (romantic!), surrounded by nice plants (I wish!).
We like it, and to be honest with the music industry, which could use a talking to: this was a horrible week for music videos. I am over vintage proms and cars.
Lizzie: Kaitlyn, you’re right. This week’s video didn’t have a lot of competition, but I still think it rightfully earned a coveted One Video slot because it basically tells you what to listen to on your next rainy train ride. As a person who has often wondered, during a train ride, “What should I listen to?” only to have no one respond, I find this very considerate.
Who is Cashmere Cat ft. Ariana Grande?
Lizzie: Cashmere Cat is a small cat, cousin to the Velveteen Rabbit. Just kidding, he’s actually a Norwegian DJ named Magnus August Høiberg, although I think it’d be foolish to rule out the first possibility entirely.
Kaitlyn: Ariana Grande is a pop star with superhuman vocal range, and we’ve written about her on this site many times previously. Grande’s 2015 music video for “Focus” stars her, several back-up dancers, and a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 for each person. The video pays special attention to the S Pen and to the word “galaxy” — which was conveyed artistically by dyeing Grande’s hair white and putting her in a dress covered in glow-in-the-dark stars.
It’s interesting that she is now, sort of, featured in a video that is predominantly just a camera pointed at an Apple product for four and a half minutes.
What’s special about “Quit” by Cashmere Cat ft. Ariana Grande
Lizzie: This lyric video is special because it takes place on a moving train, but there are also a lot of potted plants in the periphery. Most people don’t bring potted plants onto trains, but this video is not most people. In fact, it’s not people at all. It’s a video.
Kaitlyn: I agree. The potted plants are nice. But my favorite moment in “Quit” is when the camera pulls away from the MacBook (sorry if that opinion is controversial on this technology site) and shows us the great outdoors flying past the window. Train rides, car rides when someone else is driving, or bus rides only if you have two seats to yourself are some of the most pleasant experiences available to humankind, and this shot reminds me of that:
Lizzie: Kaitlyn also wants me to point out that this song could be a reference to Brokeback Mountain because she doesn’t want to do it herself. Even if you’ve never seen the movie, you’re probably aware that Jake Gyllenhaal says the word “quit” followed by the word “you” in one frequently quoted scene. In this song, Ariana Grande also sings those two words together. The fact that Jake is saying “I wish I knew how to quit you” while Ariana is saying “I can’t quit you” are minor inconsistencies in the broader point Kaitlyn is trying to make. Or trying to make me make for her.
Kaitlyn: Thank you for explaining, Lizzie. Here’s an example of the Brokeback meme:
How long everyone should watch “Quit” by Cashmere Cat ft. Ariana Grande:
Lizzie: Until, suddenly, you find yourself singing it in Jake Gyllenhaal’s cowboy accent.
Kaitlyn: Speaking only for myself, I’d rather you resisted that impulse. It’s rude to presume that you can do anything as well as Jake Gyllenhaal. Just watch 1:25 through 1:36 and then 2:50 through 3:02, at which times you can see trees and a nice sunset.
After that you can watch this other recent Cashmere Cat video, which is also nice and very romantic.