Now giving the Pet Shop Boys a run for their money with regard to songs titled “Violence,” Grimes returns after months with no new music (her last single being “Pretty Dark“), accompanied by producer/DJ i_o. Favoring the less aggravated 80s cock rock-inspired vibes of “We Appreciate Power,” “Violence” is more than somewhat antithetical to its name in terms of being a rather peaceful track.
Opening with Grimes oh so fittingly reading The Art of War amid a rather palatial tableau, she is soon joined by a coterie of equally as dainty backup dancers who proceed to pantomime beating the shit out of her without ever actually touching her. But, presumably thanks to the teachings of The Art of War, soon she’s up again, putting the likes of Janet Jackson and Britney Spears to shame with her perfectly timed choreography–miming shooting a gun here and gasping for air as though shot by a bullet there.
During interludes of serenity (when she’s not dressed in all black and wearing a red-colored surgical/ninja mask), she is positioned on her knees (try not to get aroused, asshole), perched above a naked woman’s prostrate body (repeat latter parenthetical here). In all likelihood, one can make the case that this woman is a metaphor for the ultimate femme du monde: Gaia a.k.a. Earth a.k.a. Mother Nature. Considering the concept behind Grimes’ highly anticipated new record, Miss Anthropocene, which is, “a concept album about the anthropomorphic Goddess of Climate Change,” it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility in methods of symbolism.
With lyrics that speak to an abusive relationship, the automatic and straightforward assumption would be that she’s talking about Elon Musk when she bemoans, “You feed off hurting me.” However, based on her statement, “[Miss Anthropocene] will be a different embodiment of human extinction as depicted through pop star Demonology,” it seems that, pseudo-intellectualism aside, “Violence” is about the abusive relationship between humans and nature. The one that dictates having to admit, “You wanna make me bad, make me bad/Pay me back” in reference to the tendency of Earth’s denizens to pillage it, unavoidably making them the heartless victims in the dynamic.
As such, a shot of Grimes’ dancers turned upside down seems an appropriate metaphor on the singer’s part (who, of course, also directed the video). Intermittent flashes of white light also appear to be an allusion to the end being nigh (though it’s unlikely that any of us are getting into heaven after all the crimes against nature we’ve committed, something further corroborated by Billie Eilish in “all the good girls go to hell“).
With her dancers continuing to gracefully wield their weapons, one most “appropriatively” being a samurai sword–in keeping with that whole The Art of War motif–Grimes remains at the center of carefully curated placement amid each gyrating pawn. Acting as both the abused and abuser in that no-win situation called human interaction with la terre. Because in order for us to preserve what’s left of it, we would need to be inherently less violent. But that goes against human nature altogether, doesn’t it? In the meantime, since we can’t seem to do so ourselves, we can instead watch Grimes dance celestially around Earth’s inevitable demise at the hands of humanity.
