Kelly Clarkson revisits family history in Because Of You

Kelly Clarkson rewrites her family script in her music video, “Because Of You”, her fourth single from the album, Breakaway. The American Idol winner from 2002 won the 2006 MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video with the story of a woman threatened by a marriage breakup. The 3:50 minute music video begins with a shot of a family home. Inside Clarkson’s character and her husband are arguing in the kitchen. Clarkson yells and shoves her husband away. As her husband follows her down the corridor the camera focuses on the family photograph, and then changes focus to reveal a black and white framed photograph of a young girl and her father. The husband grabs the photograph and runs after his wife, but just as he threatens to smash the frame he’s frozen.

Clarkson walks back down the corridor to discover herself as young girl. Together they walk to the kitchen to witness a father-daughter encounter. The father is too busy on a phone call to recognise his daughter’s work. As Clarkson sings her chorus she’s alone in a dark corridor of mirrors. The video moves now to the mother’s pattern of heartache and disappointment in the face of her husband’s neglect and betrayal. On the painful day of final split the young girl follows her father out of the house, carrying his bag for him. Finally Clarkson’s character returns to the scene where her husband still stands frozen. She reaches up to defuse her husband’s anger and invites her daughter into a family embrace.

Click on the image below to play the Because Of You music video.

Because Of You Music Video Credits

‘Because of You’ was co-written by Kelly Clarkson, Ben Moody and David Hodges. Moody and Hodges, ex-members of Evanescence, co-produced the song. The original concept was developed by Clarkson as a sixteen year old dealing with the pain of her own family struggles. With her parents permission Clarkson based the the music video concept on actual events from her childhood.

The music video was directed by Vadim Perelman, a director represented by Tate USA, known for his feature film, House of Sand and Fog (2003). Producer was Rhonda Vernet. The video debuted in October 2005.

Lyrics for Because of You

I will not make
The same mistakes that you did
I will not let myself
Cause my heart so much misery
I will not break
The way you did, you fell so hard
I’ve learned the hard way
To never let it get that far

Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side so I don’t get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you I am afraid

I lose my way
And it’s not too long before you point it out
I cannot cry
Because I know that’s weakness in your eyes
I’m forced to fake
A smile, a laugh, every day of my life
My heart can’t possibly break
When it wasn’t even whole to start with

I watched you die
I heard you cry every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
And now I cry in the middle of the night
For the same damn thing

Because of you
Because of you
Because of you I am afraid

Because of you I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you I learned to play on the safe side so I don’t get hurt

Because of you I try my hardest just to forget everything
Because of you
I don’t know how to let anyone else in
Because of you
I’m ashamed of my life because it’s empty
Because of you I am afraid.

Production Details

Published by Smelly Songs (ASCAP)/12:06 Publishing (BMI)/SmellsLikeMetal Publishing/Dwight Frye Music, Inc. (BM) all rights administered by Dwight Frye Music, Inc. (BMI)

Produced by David Hodges and Ben Moody
Mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios, Virginia Beach, VA
Assisted by Tim Roberts
Recorded by Dan Certa at NRG Recording, North Hollywood, CA
Assistant Engineer: Sergio Chavez
Additional Pro-Tools Engineer: John Hanes
All vocals by Kelly Clarkson
Guitar: Ben Moody
Piano: David Hodges
Bass: Marty O’Brien
Drums: Mark Colbert

String Arrangement: David Campbell and David Hodges
David Hodges and Mark Colbert appear courtesy of Epic Records
Ben Moody appears courtesy of Wind-up Records