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Genius Annotation

In “Cheerleader,” Clark reclaims her dignity and self-worth against those she felt she had to uproot her lifestyle for.

The idea of being a cheerleader denounces Clark’s individuality and transforms her into a person who sacrifices her whole personality and uniqueness in order to uplift those around her.

The music video was directed by surreal cinematographer Hiro Murai and is heavily inspired by the large lifelike statues of Ron Mueck.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Hiro Murai say about directing the music video?
Genius Answer

It was my concept, but that uncanny quality came from the fact that I was a fan to begin with. To me, the entire video incorporates aspects of the videos [St. Vincent]’s put out in the past, and understands who she is as a musician. I always saw her as a really ornate layer cake, but filled with knives. So the idea of scaling a fragile porcelain figure into the size of something almost ominous was interesting to me. Her performance and general aura on camera is very indicative of her music. It’s enigmatic. There’s something about her that you want to read into; I want her to be in a noir movie or something. There’s so much mystery going on, which is bizarre, because in person she’s so sweet and funny.

– Murai via Pitchfork

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