Bad Suns – Salt (Official Video)

When first listening to a song, it is often difficult to understand what the true meaning of the song is. But when artists create music videos it is easier to interpret the true meaning. This is very true for “Salt” by Bad Suns. 

 

The music video creates an emotional story of someone who is struggling with their gender identity while also struggling to be accepted. While the video tells a deeper story, it follows the lyrics, strengthening the meaning by putting a visual with it. The beginning starts off with the idea of struggling with your identity and the mental health struggles that come along with that. The main character tries to kill himself in many ways but has someone there trying to stop him from doing that. This scene corresponds with the lyrics that say, “so I ran, til I couldn’t.” By putting lyrics with a visually intense scene such as this one, the audience is able to empathize with the person. It shows that the person ran away from their problems until they could not in which they think their last resort is suicide.

An important aspect of the music video that is important for the context of being a member of the LGBTQ community is the violence that members of this community goes through. One graphic scene shows the main character in drag, being abused by a group of men for not being an actual woman. Because the members of the LGBTQ society are widely not accepted by members of society they are extremely vulnerable to abuse. 

Overall, the music video brings the lyrics of this already powerful song to life. It allows people of the community to feel heard and less alone. It brings power to the Transgender community as it says that you are not alone and you can be yourself. 

Salt – Bad Suns (Live at Lollapalooza 2019)

In 2019 Bad Suns got the opportunity to perform at one of the biggest music festivals in the country, Lollapalooza, which takes place in summer in Chicago. Their set was over an hour long, and they got to play a large discography. One of the songs they performed was “Salt.” (45:26 – 49:21)

Before the band starts playing the song the lead singer, Christo Bowman, introduces it by saying,

“Thank you for being so good to us today Chicago. Take that with you wherever you go. Be good to one another. Be kind to one another. And love one another, no matter your fucking differences. Alright?”

This is a way of introducing the song and telling people to be accepting and understanding, especially of the people his song talks about. 

Their performance was raw. There was nothing flashy the members did to draw attention to themselves and act bigger than they were. The band was there to play their music and have a good time with the crowd and that is what they did. By having a raw performance like this they were able to focus solely on their music and allow the audience to focus on the meaning of it. 

Salt – Bad Suns (Fan Cover)

Bad Suns is not one of the most popular bands of the 21st century so the internet lacks a variety of covers of “Salt.” One of the covers that is online is by a youtuber singer called Sidney-Lee Chisholm. This video is a raw cover of her singing with just an acoustic guitar. It is intense because doing a cover that is as raw as this it calls for the attention of the lyrics. This cover was overall intense and beautiful.