So up until I saw the music video, I really loved the song “Animals,” probably because I didn’t fully catch or comprehend the lyrics until right then. I would sing along as best I could and do the howling part whenever it came on because I LOVE Adam Levine and his music. So what’s the problem? Well, when I saw the music video, I paid a lot more attention to the lyrics and finally got the full picture. So first, I’ll explain the video but I highly recommend watching it if you haven’t already just to get the whole idea. It basically starts with Adam Levine singing in an alleyway before he begins stalking a girl (played by his real-life wife). He’s shown as an animal, yes, and also a butcher as he is pictured in a meat locker with scratches and blood on him, screaming and punching the dead meat, while also being shown in other scenes at the front counter with a hair net, apron, and benign smile. He kind of looks like a serial killer from my perspective, definitely a violent man trying to hide some inner “beast.” Eventually, he gets the girl and they have some really gross, blood-covered sex. The music video portrays an unhinged, dangerous, sociopathic man (and he must be sociopathic because rapists aren’t normal, everyday human beings, right?) who stalks a woman (which according to this class is a form of sexual harassment) with whom he eventually has what appears to be consensual sex. So why did I label him a rapist? The lyrics definitely contribute to this idea so I’ll add a couple of the important lines. “Maybe you think that you can hide” could imply a non-consensual encounter, but this could also add to the stalking idea. “It’s like we can’t stop, we’re enemies, but we get along when I’m inside you” is the real kicker I think. He describes this woman as his enemy, and in the same sense, that he is her enemy, but that once he is “inside her,” he thinks that they get along perfectly fine. This bothers me because it sounds a lot like the defence that it isn’t raping if the victim “enjoys” it. Another line, “Yeah you can start over you can run free…but you can’t stay away from me” makes me again think that this song is about conquering a woman, domineering over her, controlling her, which is exactly what the act of rape or sexual assault is about. Finally, the whole message is about a woman being compared to an animal, or less then human, when it comes to sex as if her rights don’t matter when it comes to satisfying this man. As you might be able to tell, I am thoroughly disgusted.
