Dillon Francis' all-emoji "Messages" lyric video WILL blow your mind.
It didn't seem possible that L.A. producer Dillon Francis would be able to top his last video, the epic TV-jumping dance clip for "Bootleg Fireworks (Burning Up)," but that just shows how little we know, because Dillon's done it again! Upon first glance, the trippy, all-emoji lyric video for "Messages" by Francis featuring Simon Lord (of Simian Mobile Disco) seems like an insanely fun visual joke. But, as many of the careful viewers who have commented on the video have pointed out, there's actual some method behind the madness here.
Watch Dillon Francis Featuring Simon Lord's "Messages" lyric video after the jump.
The song, an impeccably smooth dance track, practically lays out the concept in its lyrics, introduced in an I can't believe no one has ever thought of this yet iPhone-style chat. "Can I read between lines. Decipher all the signs." Lord sings over a lock-and-key animation. "Hieroglyphics in your eyes. Hidden meanings deep inside," he goes on, over a whirlwind emoji. "Messages" could just be about the simple act of interpreting the signals people give off to one another when they're in love (or not, as the case may be), but it's also a pretty good description of the way we communicate now. We use emojis and emoticons so often in our natural language, and we think we know what they're intended to mean, but it's sometimes a lot harder to figure out than it should be. :-/
"Messages that you're sending me," Simon sings, while a smiling pig in a bikini wags its finger at us. Is it an invitation? An admonition? We're getting mixed signals here! And what does a monkey seeing no evil and hearing no evil have to do with death?
"The way you move. The words you choose. You knock me down." It's something anyone on the receiving end of a cryptic emoji from a romantic partner is familiar with. And in case the love theme wasn't clear, the infinitely repeating bunnies -- reproducing like bunny rabbits -- subtly enforces the idea.
There are clues aplenty to unlock throughout, all of which are open to interpretation, except for the last one, a frowning face, an "E," and a penny, which we're pretty sure is a reference to Francis' label, Mad Decent.
