tear-jerker, even for the unspiritual

http://http://

One of my good friends just recently introduced me to this song called “Temporary Home,” and now it is one of my favorite songs. It was released in Carrie Underwood’s latest album, Play On, on November 3, 2009. Carrie, the deserving winner of the fourth season of American Idol, was a co-writer of the song, along with Luke Robert Laird and Zac Maloy). This song has a very strong emotional appeal to it, especially for me because I identify with the concept of it very well. It “hits close to home” so to speak, even though I don’t necessarily identify with the specific characters in the song or their personal stories. Making a music video for this song was perhaps to help viewers visualize the stories and feel more connected to the characters portrayed in the video in order to evoke more emotion than just the song itself.
The Temporary Home music video goes along with the song very well, as opposed to a lot of music videos which seem to stray away from the lyrics. This touching video is about three people: a six-year-old foster child, a single mom, and a dying old man. They are each in different tough situations in life and seem like they would be ideal candidates for depression, hopelessness, discouragement, etc. Of course Carrie had to be in the video of her own song too, so the director shot her singing in between scenes, making sure that her body language went with the ideal emotion of the song. Carrie also plays a role in the stories of each character. First she is basically just an observer of the single mother and the foster child having sympathy for them both, then there is a small twist and you realize the old man is her dying grandfather. This is where the audience’s simple sad feeling becomes tears on the brink. When the chorus rolls around after each verse, it reveals what these characters have most in common; they all find encouragement and comfort in their beliefs that a foster home/ a halfway house/ Earth is just a “temporary home” compared to their future and permanent home (heaven).
This is the concept or idea I think the writers were trying to convey to the audience. Even though the video contains such touching stories, especially with a child incorporated into it, these individual stories or characters aren’t the real focus of the song. The characters do, however, effect who the target audience is, which is important. As a whole, this song may be directed towards Christians who identify with the characters’ beliefs and how they find security in knowing they will soon be relieved of life, or it could be directed towards just discouraged people who need a sense of security and relief. Furthermore, young children who move from home to home frequently, single parents who are trying to make ends meet, and elderly people who are expecting a visit from death soon, may specifically be affected by the content of this song more than others. I would expect them to want a more broad audience with a message like this one though.
Tons and tons of people are going to be listening to this song, and the producers know very well that a lot of them aren’t going to have a Christian standpoint going into it; they may be of another religion or no religion at all. I’m sure this posed some tough constraints for them. It seems like they did the best they could by choosing characters of different ages, going through different things that many people can relate to, even if they aren’t religious. Everyone who doesn’t have hope wishes there was something they could put their hope in, which is what stirs up emotion for people who don’t believe in a heaven… I can only assume. Then there are those who believe in a different deity. This gives the producers a small break, because at least this portion of their audience most likely believes in some sort of afterlife. Their own idea of what happens after life on earth, if a positive one, brings them comfort therefore allowing them to relate to this song.
I’m particularly affected by this song because when I was younger, and occasionally to this day, my mom would use her mother’s intuition to sense when I was going through a hard time and would always make it a point to remind me that my home on Earth was not my real home, and to not lose hope and strength because I won’t be stuck here in this horrible place battling life forever. Now, whenever I feel down or hopeless, I go through the same reassuring thought process as the characters in the song. It has always worked effectively in improving how I look at situations.
Overall I really think this is an inspiring video whether you share the belief of the message or not. Carrie’s talent and soul in this video alone is enough inspiration for anyone to find hope. I think any person who watches this video or just listens to the song would like it and find some way to relate to it -how could you not?