The secret inside of you

Tomorrow is another day and you won’t have to hide away

Still image from the video for “Run Boy Run” by Woodkid

Monday: The day voted most likely to make you want to stay in bed

Moxie: Confidence, determination, force of character

Monday Moxie: A tiny spark of “Go get ‘em!” curated by yours truly to help you get your day (even a Monday) off to a good start

At first I thought it was the visual element of the video that had snapped me to attention mid scroll — a young girl, astride a powerful horse, riding bareback on a wide open stretch of grassy dunes with the ocean waves crashing in the distance. In the first few moments of the video, she reaches forward to pull the bridle off the horse’s head, dropping it to the ground beside her mount. And then, as the drumbeat drops in earnest, she gently nudges her mount’s flanks with her heels and the two of them leap forward in a time-bending gallop that is so full of freedom and joy and defiance that it makes me hold my breath.

It’s a scene no lifelong horse girl can watch without experiencing a sympathetic adrenaline rush, often alongside a pang of the sweetest unfulfilled longing.

The image and the action were powerful, no doubt, but on the second watch I realized that the music accompanying the video was at least equally responsible for the quickening of my heartbeat.

The song was “Run Boy Run” by Woodkid. Woodkid, I learned later, is the stage name of French singer-songwriter, graphic designer, and music video director, Yoann Lemoine. Lemoine has worked with many household names including Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray, and Harry Styles.

That was maybe a week ago. Cut to this morning …

I had a hard time choosing a song for this week’s Monday Moxie. There is so much happening in the world right now that each song I considered seemed too blithe to be at all appropriate.

I flicked through the songs in my Inner Wilderness Unlimited playlist hoping something would jump out at me, but — one after the other — I set each song aside as not quite right.

And then I gave up for a moment, switching gears to read a few pages of the book currently living on my kitchen island as my “cereal book” — the one I read while munching through a bowl of ill-advised breakfast flakes. The book is The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold. I picked it out of one of the little free libraries in town based on its gorgeous cover.

As I slipped back into the story about two teen girls fighting for survival at the end of the world, I read this passage about one of the two characters reminiscing about life before the cataclysmic storm that had brought moden life to an end:

And with the slight breeze comes seventeen years of memories.

Bike rides wearing sweatshirts even though I was sweating like hell, because the sweatshirt was new and made me look cool. Headphones on, the ones that cost fifteen hours of minimum-wage labor because they blocked out every background noise, which was definitely not safe on the road, but I didn’t care. Violent Femmes and Woodkid and Harvey Danger and Radio-head blasting into my ears like I was standing in the middle of a concert hall.

Woodkid.

Until only days before, I’d never heard of Woodkid, and here he was again.

I went back to my playlist where I had saved “Run Boy Run,” which I had looked up the day I saw the video of the young girl charging at the world from the back of a naked horse. I listened and found the song still gave me goosebumps.

And then I watched Woodkid’s video, which also gave me chills.

A review in The Guardian has this to say:

That song's narrative – sword-brandishing schoolboy-hero racing wildly towards his destiny – unfolds in full on this filmic debut. It is the crisis of adolescence and all its aches that The Golden Age soundtracks, victories and losses played out in dark, fairytale metaphors. Lemoine's sad, rich vocals are a comforting constant throughout the stormy flux of dramatic orchestral pop: a grand alchemy of swelling strings and crashing drums. But, despite the surge of charging percussion and triumphant fanfare of horns on The Great Escape, an air of grim inevitability haunts the album's arc, and an ominous bell motif tolls the fate of our boy-man protagonist. "The golden age is over," mourns Lemoine, but there's enough wide-eyed magic and spellbinding pomp here to make the adventure worthwhile.

The video is a beautiful piece of art. I wish I’d been able to track down the writer who created the concept, but there is no name listed on the IMDB entry. The piece has the feel of a short film with an interesting mash up of possible influences from epic fantasy to video games to Where the Wild Things Are. I loved everything about it, especially the crows and the hoard of monster allies.

The song speaks to the emotional experience of childhood and captures a sense of rushing toward tomorrow and adulthood, it is also a kind of battle cry for survival in general, self acceptance, and metamorphosis. These elements are perhaps why the song has become an LGBTQ+ anthem.

If you feel you have the capability to handle something more emotional, I also recommend this recording of a live performance at Montreaux. It features the crowd spontaneously continuing to sing the song for a full two minutes after Woodkid finished his performance. I have been at concerts where this happens, and it’s pure magic.

And we could all use a little magic. Especially on a Monday.

P.S. There is also an instrumental version if that’s something you’re interested in. This song is going on several of my own playlists in all its different forms.

Run Boy Run

Woodkid, 2013 — Track 2 on the album, The Golden Age

Run boy run! This world is not made for you
Run boy run! They're trying to catch you
Run boy run! Running is a victory
Run boy run! Beauty lays behind the hills

Run boy run! The sun will be guiding you
Run boy run! They're dying to stop you
Run boy run! This race is a prophecy
Run boy run! Break out from society

Tomorrow is another day
And you won't have to hide away
You'll be a man, boy!
But for now it's time to run, it's time to run!

Run boy run! This ride is a journey to
Run boy run! The secret inside of you
Run boy run! This race is a prophecy
Run boy run! And disappear in the trees

Tomorrow is another day
And you won't have to hide away
You'll be a man, boy!
But for now it's time to run, it's time to run!

Tomorrow is another day
And when the night fades away
You'll be a man, boy!
But for now it's time to run, it's time to run!

Performed by Woodkid
Songwriters: Ambroise Willaume / Yoann Lemoine