Jaiden Byram

Charles Freeland

Eng 1201.509

21 February 2021

Two Versions of The Same Song

In both of the versions of "Running Up That Hill' by Placebo and Meg Myers the song’s lyrics

have similar meanings, but the music videos are presented in completely different ways. These song

lyrics hold a very powerful meaning, and the music videos and different music artists show how this

song holds many meanings in their different efforts to cover the song.

The one similarity that both of these music videos hold is that the lyrics hold very similar

meanings. What I interpreted from both versions is that the song is about someone who is suicidal or

depressed. The narrator of the song is the one wanting to trade places with this person in an effort to

help them. This song is about someone who loves his significant other so much that he would take on

anything or do anything to save her from her negative emotions. They want to help take on their

burden and ease their pain. “Running Up That Hill”, is somewhat represented as a metaphor. Is shows

the lengths that that person would go in order to take away the other person’s pain. Running up a hill

is a difficult thing to do and I think that represents the difficulty of this situation. The narrator is filled

by love and wants to make that effort to keep the other person from suffering. This song could also be

interpreted in another way as well. The lyrics could also mean the narrator wanting to switch and swap

places with someone to show how they are hurting you. The reason I say this is because of the lyric,

“Do you want to feel how it feels?” To experience the pain that they are making you feel. Either way

the point of the lyric’s is someone swapping places with another person, in order to take on that

person’s pain or feel it.

In placebo’s version of the song, the music video and the way the song is sung it presents a

depressing feeling. This version was originally made in 2003 and fits in the category of alternative or
goth. This version of the song almost everything is black and white and some of the people in the video

are crying creating a more depression version of the song. This seems to make up the whole music video

because the video shows many different women and men throughout the video, each clip is just a

different person in a different setting just singing along to the lyrics

“You don’t want to hurt me but see how deep the bullet lies Unaware I’m tearing you to asunder” These

lyrics are telling the audience that the significant other is keeping something that will hurt him, and he

knows something is wrong and keeps asking but his partner won’t tell him because it hurts her. This

creates a more depressing mood of the song along with the visuals in the music video. In the video it

shows someone moving a black feather closer to the camera. A black feather is supposed to guide

someone towards happiness and to help them make a big decision. The video having a lot of black and

white in it means they are struggling. Also, this version of the song is way slower and overall dark and

gloomy. The appeal this music video uses is pathos. The music video creates a lot of emotion and

feelings. It does this through the lyrics but especially the visuals in the music video. The videos audience

is for older people most likely and possibly people who are in a relationship. It could also be intended for

people who like this type of genre of music.

In Meg Meyers version of “Running Up That Hill” made in 2019, It creates a much more

powerful emotion. This video I would say is pop- alternative. The video is definitely more bright and

livid compares to placebos version. It has a lot of imagery and is fast tempo.  This music video

appeared to be very powerful especially by the singer’s voice.  I would not say there is not a particular

setting, since the whole imagery of this video was hand colored by 2,130 children. The only character

that appears in this video is a woman who I assume is the artist. I think the audience would be people

who listen to this type of genre of music or maybe older adults. This video seems a lot more uplifting

overall and not as depressing as the other version. There are things that seem to give off a joyful

feeling which is completely opposite of the other music video. In the video you see a woman climbing

a tree it shows growth because the girl turns into a caterpillar then into a butterfly. This could
symbolize growth or change in this video because she is evolving into something greater. It could

mean the artists is gaining power and changing to be able to take on the other person’s pain.

Through the music videos the two show completely different visuals and feelings. Meg

Meyers version is so colorful and brings joy and power. Placebos version gives off the emotion of

deep sadness and has no color in the video. The two tempos are completely different. These videos

show how a song can have the same meaning but give off completely different emotions.
Work Cited

“Running Up That Hill Lyrics.” "Running Up That Hill" Lyrics,

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/megmyers/runningupthathill.html

“Running Up That Hill(OFFICIAL VIDEO).” Running Up That Hill(OFFICIAL VIDEO),

Meg Myers, 27 June 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?
v=N7iVWK2W48o&list=RDN7iVWK2W48o&start_radio=1 .

Running Up That Hill(Official Video), Placebo, 29 Apr. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-

mYX0qKkB8.