Celeste Buckingham washes her oppressor out of her hair with “Go Away"

“Go Away”, the new single from Celeste Buckingham, and the first from her new album “Bare”, was released this month. In addition the official video was uploaded to YouTube and at time of writing has been viewed more than 100000 times.

A lot has already been written about the single and its parent album, but what of the all-important video? Samuell Hoffman is an experienced filmmaker, producer and editor who was entrusted with bringing Celeste Buckingham’s vision to the screen.

“Go Away”, written by Celeste Buckingham explores the feelings and consequences involved in being in an abusive relationship. Celeste is very much personally invested in highlighting the plight of disadvantaged women. She works a lot with women and children and is a female rights activist. As a result Celeste’s lyrics accurately reflect the darkness of emotional abuse. The video, of course, also had to match this darkness and Celeste’s vision has been brought to life.

Divided into 3 different sections the video reflects the fighting mood and evolution of Celeste’s character as she rises up against an abusive oppressor.

The video opens on Celeste lying on a bed of rocks. Symbolising the discomfort and difficulty her character is experiencing. In this section Celeste wears a thin and basic dress representing her vulnerability. As she launches into her song the camera moves with her emphasising the urgency for action needed by someone experiencing emotional abuse.

As the lyrics unfold with insight into her character’s situation, and rising strength to deal with her oppressor, the video switches to the 2nd part where we see Celeste dressed in a thick woolen dress. The dress symbolises her greater strength and decision to take steps to protect herself against her oppressor.

The oppressor, played by a male actor, rails at Celeste through a wire fence as Celeste sings out defiantly. The wire fence represents the distance that Celeste’s character has put between herself and her oppressor and is an imaginative way to also communicate Celeste’s action-taking which has resulted in the oppressor no longer being able to impose himself on her.

Throughout the moody atmosphere is maintained through clever lighting and a deliberately sparse set. The shades of grey that form the background serve as a great backdrop that highlights Celeste’s increasingly buoyant performance as her character finds more and more strength in herself.

The third and final part of the video sees Celeste’s character having truly taken back her life and allowing her personality to shine. This is represented by the sexy figure hugging dress that envelopes Celeste’s body as she confidently strides towards the camera in knee-high boots. Hair down to her shoulders which sway to the catchy beat, Celeste is seen as silhouette before being illuminated amongst her dancers.

Now exuding nothing short of total confidence Celeste revels in the spotlight and has all her cares washed away under the water that symbolically rains on to her from above. Finishing the video wet through Celeste has washed her oppressor out of her hair.