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One Video: Love is Blind by Fergie

One Video: Love is Blind by Fergie

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Good morning to have some Pepto-Bismol

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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: “Love is Blind” by Fergie

Lizzie: This week’s pick joins a small but sturdy group of previous One Video winners who managed to snag the top spot in spite of the song attached to their video. This group includes MattyBRaps, Ansel Elgort, and Taylor Swift — a trio that will probably never be compared ever again. “Love is Blind,” a single from Fergie’s recent album Double Dutchess, sounds like a Gwen Stefani song back when she was friends with all the kids from Sublime. She pronounces “bitches” like she’s trying to do an impersonation of a high person, but then she got an air bubble caught in her throat.

Is pop-reggae a good look for Fergie? No. Does the video for the pop-reggae song look good? That’s why we’re here.

Is pop-reggae a good look for Fergie?

Kaitlyn: This week’s One Video is a stop-motion animation made by a whole team of people who are less famous than Fergie but are honestly doing more impressive work in this particular situation. The animator, Gary Cureton, has directed episodes of Morph and created characters for Wallace & Gromit and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. He animated a bunch of faux-Barbie dolls that art director Emily Suvanvej (and her six-person team!) made for this Fergie video, all of whom have far more expressive faces and joints than you would ever want from a doll in real life.

Who is Fergie?

Lizzie: Given her recent musical output, Fergie is probably wondering the same thing right now. Here are some facts about Fergie, according to lyrics from her most recent album:

  • Not thirsty, just hungry
  • I must be telepathic
  • Fever growing inside this shell that you call a body
  • Got blisters under the band-aid over my life
  • I was sleeping with the demon every night in my bedroom

Kaitlyn: I think you probably know who Fergie is, or at least you know the song “Fergalicious” and are having a eureka moment right now, like, “So that’s where the word ‘fergalicious’ comes from. Huh.” In the video for “Love is Blind,” it’s not clear whether a doll who likes to hang out by her pool, murder her lovers, and keep her home tidy is supposed to be an avatar for Fergie herself, but the lyrics are sung in first-person, and we can interpret things however we want.

What’s special about “Love is Blind” by Fergie:

Lizzie: The best part of this video is the dozens of tiny dollhouse props scattered about generic-brand Barbie Dream House. There’s a raw steak and a bunch of tiny knives and a blunt and a pizza box and a flamingo floatie and a fuzzy pink bathrobe. The video has a storyline, too. I kept getting distracted by the adorable details. And the murder.

Kaitlyn: What’s special about “Love is Blind” is that the title of the song is a misnomer. Love isn’t blind; love is watching closely, and love has incredible aim.

Also, I think the pink pool raft that the doll murderer hangs out in during her downtime between murders is probably a reference to the one that Rihanna has in the video for “Bitch Better Have My Money.” You can’t really go wrong with a Rihanna reference, yet not nearly enough music videos have them.

How long everyone should watch “Love is Blind” by Fergie:

Lizzie: The. Whole. Time.

Kaitlyn: This one depends on your mood. The answer is “the whole time,” if you are okay with remorseless antiheroines and Pepto-Bismol-inspired violence today. If not, I would suggest watching only the pieces that involve a pink raft, a nice meal, or a leisurely wake-and-bake. Those moments occur from 0:01 to 0:31; 1:08 to 1:10; 1:16 to 1:50; 3:05 to 3:08; 3:13 to 3:18; and 4:05 to the end.