Hey, everyone, welcome back to Rewind and React. I'm Adam Eltarhoni. And I'm Rob Fine. And today we are introducing something a little different a brand new format. We are calling One Shot. One shot is where we talk about an artist that might not have a ton of great music videos. We could break down in a full episode, but they do have that one video that hit the mainstream and made a major impact. And instead of letting those videos fall through the cracks, we decided they deserved their shot too. So buckle up. It is quick, it is focused, and it is a celebration of those iconic videos that helped define an artist's career. Let's get in! Today's one shot pick, we are going to talk about a classic from the 90s. Natalie Imbruglia is torn. News. You never changed into something. Me wide awake and I can see the price. The sky is torn. You're a little late I'm already tired. Rob, you want to take us to the video?
I will yes. The music video for torn is simple yet clever. It features Natalie in a modest apartment, singing the song directly to the camera around her. An apparent romantic partner interacts with her in what seems like fragments of a blossoming relationship. However, as the video progresses, you see that the walls and the floor of the apartment are flimsy set pieces, and the camera occasionally pulls back to reveal a film crew, director, and equipment, making it clear that the apartment is just a soundstage. The real interactions between Natalie and the actor start to blur, with the actor once playing into the song's emotional themes, with outside forces such as the crew redirecting their actions, adjusting their hair, and interrupting intimate moments. As the crew disassembles the set, Natalie keeps singing this song to the camera through the end of the video.
Yeah, this was a kind of a cool video, and I know Natalie Imbruglia. We've heard this song tons of times on the radio. I've actually never seen the whole video. I've seen bits and pieces. I knew it was a video with like a single camera in this apartment, but do you remember this video? Well, the first time you saw it. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I remember seeing this one a lot. This was kind of in the heyday of MTV for me. So yeah, this came on quite a bit and there's a lot at work here. But overall what I remember as a child is, wow, she is really pretty. Like something about that face. It catches you right away. And I guess she was like a model and an actress before she went into music. So it makes sense.
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So I learned a lot about her doing the research on this episode, and she's an Australian actress, and she was on that show, soap opera called neighbors. And for anyone unfamiliar, neighbors is like a very famous Australian soap opera that's been around forever. It looks like this is how everyone in Australia becomes big. Russell Crowe is on it. Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie you know, this is like the, I guess, the show for everyone in Australia. And I'm sure Australia has more shows, but this is the one. And yeah, I learned that she was part of neighbors. She wanted to do a music career and then she moved into this. So it's. Like like their version of Days of Future Past or Days of Our lives or. Our lives. Yeah, yeah. Or like General Hospital or any of those kind of soap operas. And I'm sure there's more than one Australian soap opera, but this was like the famous one. Yeah, the one that everyone was part of. Very cool. Yeah. So Natalie Imbruglia has had a career after this, more albums, but this one was such a unique video. And what did you like about it?
So yeah, honestly, looking back when we talked, you know, discussed doing this video, I remember the video on MTV, you know, mostly just her looks. And I remember, as I recalled, it was just like a one shot of her, like singing to the camera, coming back to watch it again. I'm glad it wasn't that, because there's actually a lot going on here. You began. You just think it's her with this guy. I don't think you ever place a name on him, but he comes in and then suddenly they're stopped, like a director or somebody comes in and adjusts where somebody's standing. So it's cool that there's a lot that you could take away from this. Like it's about a person realizing, on the surface, a person realizing the love that they believed in wasn't real. And then that video kind of uses the illusion of a romantic setting, and then it deconstructs it right before our eyes. The moments when the director and the crew walk in, they're giving instructions, adjusting Natalie's hair, moving props around. The way I see it, it's, you know, outside pressures of whether it's just society or, you know, something's going on at work, you have somebody else in your life that constantly interrupts that perfect fantasy that you can build around. Love. It's not just between two people, but it's often influenced by those external forces as well.
You kind of hit it on the nail there. I thought when I first picked this video, I was like, well, let's see if that's any good, because I remember it, but I don't remember it that well. And there are two fake out moments. First of all, she's going into the apartment and the boyfriend comes in, and then you all of sudden see the crew like you said, the director coming in and like rearranging them and things like that, and you're like, okay, this is very interesting. We're actually not watching a music video per se. We're watching them make a music video or make this scene, and then the whole part of the song where the earthquake, it looks like an earthquake. I was like, oh, what's going on here? And then you realize, wait, there's there's another twist on the video. They are on a sound stage and they're tearing it apart right around her. And like you said, you know, it's it's a good metaphor, I think, for the relationship and things that are falling apart and things are happening, but it's such a more complicated video that they could do with a single camera shot than I would have ever expected from like this era of videos, especially from someone who only you know. This was like her first big video, and having that creativity, I guess, to make such a video that's so different than person singing and dancing along to the song.
Yeah, absolutely. Like when the walls and the furniture reveal to be just flimsy props, you know, that that kind of symbolizes how the relationship isn't built on anything solid. And what looked like something real turned out to be fake and unstable, just like she's singing about. And I love how she keeps singing as the illusion falls apart. Like at the end there, you know, deconstructing everything. And that's what she's really just dancing and singing. Not really dancing, but, you know, vibing and singing with the camera. And, you know, it's like when a relationship is broken and it is falling apart. Sometimes people keep performing, you know, pretending that everything's going to be okay. But you can still piece this together right? Mean. And it's cool because there are scenes where her boyfriend is played by an actor, Jeremy Sheffield. He's getting his hair done and she's standing there and then there's a scene where she's getting her hair done, and he's standing there and it's like a little bit of that relationship where someone's getting a little more focus or attention, and you just have to sit there and wait and what's the real part of this relationship and how's it going to really work out?
Yeah. Something. I learned about Jeremy. Sheffield. He was a professional ballet dancer, but he got an injury, forced him into acting, and now we all know him for being in this video. Yeah, well he's also in some kind of TV show. But I'll go back to that ballet dancer thing because I don't know how tall ballet dancer should be, but he's really tall and in this video, when they're doing his hair, if you watch, like he's kind of squatting because he's too tall for the camera frame and they're probably just like, okay, how can we do this? Fix your hair scene without you being out of frame? And he has the squad and I'm like, wow, he is really tall and she might be really short. I actually don't know her height, but you can definitely feel that. Yeah, I agree that he he seems to tower over her. You know, I don't know if she's just really shorter. He's just a giant ballet dancer. I'm not sure she's.
Yeah, yeah. Going back to kind of this sound stage breaking apart because as a kid and as you're watching it for the first time, you just think it's some house, right? You don't realize how elaborate sound stages can be. And when they really take their top of the stairs off and then the bottom of the stairs is like revealed, and then the background, that's just a piece of painting or a picture. It's really cool as a viewer, because you really are seeing that illusion torn apart, so to speak. Yeah, I'll speak about the dancing because she said in the interview, she's actually a professional dancer, she's trained in dancing. And so when she decided to dance, she wanted to make it look like someone who didn't know how to dance. So it's intentionally bad in that sense where she's just like, I'm going to flop my arms around and spin around because I don't want to look too professional for this video.
Oh that's fun. Yeah. Tagging off that, they gave her a book of designers to choose from for what she would wear in the video, and she ended up just wearing her own clothes that she'd had sitting in the her closet for a while. So, yeah, kind of fun that she wanted to make sure she didn't look like she was a dancer. She wasn't supposed to be a supermodel here. Yeah. And also, I feel like. And women's 90s fashion I don't know as much about, but I think she really did helped, like, solidify a lot of 90s fashion in that time period. You know, grunge set off that whole casual, kind of frumpy style. And not to say she was frumpy, but it's just like you're in a very comfortable outfit. And I feel like she really pushed that for the video and for like, fashion at the time, where you don't have to be in this kind of really tight outfits or crop tops or anything like that.
Yeah, it's cool that you say that because I watched a video of her talking about, you know, this video, and she mentioned that she wanted to make sure it wasn't like a silhouette of her showing off her physique. She wanted it to be a relatable girl next door look. Yeah. And it works out really well. And, you know, you mentioned the scene where we get a real big close up on her face. I thought that was really well done. And also, like, I don't know how old the quality was back then, but you can see her nose hairs in this HD version right? Like they really get a good close up of her. And again, she's just right there front and center kind of going into this relationship that's falling apart. Yeah. Something else I learned. This is a cover song. Edna Swap was the original artist in 1995, but nowhere near as big as Natalie's version. And it's funny, I looked at the history of kind of other bands have done this cover, and there was a Danish singer called Liz Sorensen that did this song called it, they call it. It's called burnt and her version. And then there was an American, Norwegian singer, Trine Raine, that also did the song. So good song. Well written. And, you know, a lot of artists have adopted it.
Yeah, yeah. Great song. I also like the final scene where I like it, except I'm going to say YouTube of course does when YouTube does. But there's the final scene where it no sound and they're looking at the camera straight on. Of course, Jeremy's head is blocked because of the YouTube next video, but it's a cool because you get them full on and really just like front and center of telling you, you know, here's what we are. For our newer listeners, we are once again pleading with YouTube to give us an option to stop the end plates at the end of music videos, and they cover enough content. We can't see what's going on. Exactly. I also mentioned the director, Allison McClain. She's done episodes of sex and the city, The Tudors. She's a Canadian New Zealand director. One of the things she said, and Natalie had input on this, is she wanted more of a film like music video and less of this kind of generic stuff. So she had a little bit of input, and I believe Allison had this idea for this concept of just kind of the one shot and everything falling apart. So again, well done. Kudos. Like they really knocked it out of the park. And it's probably one of the most remember most memorable videos maybe of 1997. And you know, we've done a 1997 episode, Dustin said into the Cut. But this was definitely a good one.
Yeah, cool thing about this. It got a ton of airplay on MTV and VH1. When it first came out, it was one of the most played songs in the US radio that year. However, it never actually charted on Billboard because they had very weird eligibility rules about how releases had to come out, and so it never even went on a Billboard chart. That's funny, because I think if this came out now, you know, Spotify, YouTube music, Apple Music, they would put it right at the top. Oh yeah. Absolutely. No. Yeah, just weird billboard rules. And my last little note on it, Natalie, in that talking about the song 30 years later, said that it's something that she still loves singing at concerts. She goes to see other musicians, and there's always some song that made them huge that they've had to play at every single event. They go to, and they always comment how, like they're sick of playing the song. And she's like, no, not for me. The song. Like, I could sing it every day. I still love it and I'm glad that the fans still want to hear it.
And I do think, I mean, the song has a lot of replayability. It is a classic, right? I mean, I feel like every generation, for the most part knows this song. I love this song. Oh yeah, I think so. I don't know, maybe we're a little old now, but I think the kids still know it. Well, I'll say this I went to Music Trivia Bingo the other day and one of the categories was 90s hits. I guess was not on any of my bingo cards, but we had a group next to us and they probably were, and they're like early 20s, mid 20s maybe. And they were singing along to all these 90 songs. So I think, you know, again, 90s are back, but the kids, they love it. That's awesome. Do you think she'll ever have a hit that tops this one?
Well she had I don't know if she'll have one that tops this one. But you know, she wasn't quite a one hit wonder. But she she's had other music and I think it's this again, there's a reason we do this podcast right in the music videos makes such a difference. And there's such a kind of mini work of art. And if she could probably capture something like that again, there's a high possibility. I could see it. I don't know, I'm torn. I'm. I just set me up for a bad joke. I know I'll say it for no joke. And then you, like, went off on, like a nice, like tangent that was, like, really introspective. I said, because I really want people to make more music or more good music videos. So we have more to talk about. Yes. Yeah.
I'm going to cap off with one of our favorite trivia games, and we're going to call this one for you, Rob. I'll be ready, Natalie or Natalie. So I am going to cover two 90s stars, Natalie Imbruglia, as we just talked about, and Natalie Merchant. I don't know if you remember Natalie Merchant know any of her songs? 10,000 maniacs? Yes, exactly. That's about as much as I know about Natalie Merchant. Okay, perfect. Well, then this should be, pretty, pretty fun for us and hopefully the listeners. So I'll start with the easy one. This Natalie was born in Sydney, Australia in 1975. Imbruglia. Perfect. And I've actually learned it. Imbruglia I had to look on Wikipedia. I guess the G is silent. I heard you say that at the beginning and I was like, have I been saying it wrong this entire time? I guess so.
I have two or so. No worries. Okay. This Natalie, her most recent studio album, was released in 2023. Imbruglia. Oh man, I'm Natalie Merchant. The Beekeeper. Although Imbruglia has been making, albums and I think she had a recent one within the past, like 5 or 10 years. So both still active artist. All right. How about this one? So this Natalie began studying at Jamestown Community College and got her start in music through a college radio station. Oh man. Jamestown sounds like an Australian thing. I don't even know where merchant's from. I'm going to say Imbruglia for this one.
Yeah, I'm Natalie Merchant again. No. Because this is a tough one. Yeah, yeah. Let me see if I can help. Okay. This Natalie became a naturalized British citizen in 2013. Oh, so I think merchant is American, I think. Oh, man. All right. I hate to keep saying her name over and over again, but I'm going to go. Imbruglia. You got it right. You're on a roll. Wow, you're on A11 question roll. Okay, how about this one? This Natalie dated, briefly dated David Schwimmer in the 90s. Oh, wow. Man, so torn. Always felt like a very friends kind of song. So I'm instantly drawn to that. But which would would Imbruglia have come to America during her big hit days? Probably. Right. Like she's blowing up on MTV. Is she still on. The make it. Or not on neighbors? I'm gonna go merchant for this one. You are you on a one hit roll? No. Natalie Imbruglia. Okay. All right, just a couple more. I feel like our number one listener, Emily, will be very saddened by your results, Rob. But let's see if we can get you a few wins here. This Natalie released an album titled male in 2015, featuring covers of songs originally performed by male artist. Oh, that sounds like merchant. No. I'm really.
Okay, okay, let's see if we can. Here we go. Here we go. This one should be helpful. She played a bond girl style role opposite Rowan Atkinson in the 2003 film Johnny English. Oh, that's got to be Imbruglia. Yes. Oh, finally. So I think we are two for whatever. This one. But I mean, it's tough. I mean, Natalie Merchant had a lot of hits. They were around the same time, actually. 10,000 maniacs, I learned were like big in the 80s or came out in the 80s. So they were weirdly outside of my what I used to listen to. I was aware of them. And then I remember she did her solo album, merchant did, and I just generally didn't pay attention to her at all. It wasn't in my wheelhouse of what I was listening to at the time. Awesome. Well, Rob, thanks for covering this episode. One shot for listeners. I feel free to, you know, like and subscribe. Come back and we'll be releasing more. Well, thanks for listening IRA. Use my outro joke. Yeah. I guess you're torn on it. Outro. Yeah. All right. Thanks you guys.
