Buoyant and intimately expressive, Beharie’s glistening song and music video “Don’t Wanna Know” delves into aching depths in a stirring exploration of vulnerability and coming-of-age self-discovery.
Stream: “Don’t Wanna Know” – Beharie
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Where does vulnerability find its place in masculinity among young boys?
Buoyant and intimately expressive, Beharie’s glistening song “Don’t Wanna Know” delves into aching depths in a stirring exploration of vulnerability and coming-of-age self-discovery. Psych-tinged and soul-inflected, it’s as classic-sounding as it is definitively of our modern age – and now, its cinematic new music video elevates the art to thrilling heights with a raw, visceral look at identity, masculinity, and sexuality.
I would like to tuck you in
Stick it to what could’ve been
‘Cause this I can’t prehend
A fiction at its end
When there’s no more room to grow
A little high is way too low
All we could’ve done
Pointed by the gun
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering Beharie’s Martin Bremnes-directed music video for “Don’t Wanna Know,” a standout single off the Norwegian artist’s recently-released sophomore EP, Beharie // Beharie (April 23, 2021 via Compro Records).
“It’s definitely a mix between all the genres close to my heart,” Beharie tells Atwood Magazine. “A mix between, soul, indie folk and R&B. It’s a reflection of my experience of being a human these last years: A great mix between love, growth, challenges, and frustration.”
A self-described “young, old soul,” Beharie’s music soars with sweet harmonies and mesmerizing melodies that caress the ears and stir the heart. His powerful lyrics and emotionally-fueled vocal performance makes every minute of his new EP one worth cherishing. From the short, sweet intro “Three Worlds Apart” and the enthralling sonic immersion “I Wish I Was You,” to the more stripped-down “Won’t You Let Me Go,” the bustling, deeply impassioned outpouring “Worry,” and the tranquilizing, richly dramatic “Me and My Lonely,” Beharie // Beharie leaves an instant, lasting impression.
When you ask me, I’ll say fine
You and me, the borderline
You’re slipping through my hands
Oh I don’t understand
Don’t you dare to run away
Suit me up, I’m here to stay
If it’s time to go
I don’t wanna know
“Don’t Wanna Know” inhabits a soft space of reverie on the EP’s first half, finding Beharie weaving through nostalgic waves of reflection and daydreams of intimate connection and longing. It’s a song of growth – of a lost innocence and the stinging, painful throes of one’s own journey of self-discovery.
That turbulent path comes to life on Beharie’s new music video. Acclaimed director Martin Bremnes taps into the song’s story of personal exploration to capture a young man’s own reckoning: Scenes of intimate physical connection heighten a tension that feels palpable, but perhaps not to both parties. The main characters, portrayed by Patrick Makosir and Egil Mikael, give us an in-depth look at the uncertainty, the exasperation, and the fragility of this experience.
For Bremnes, that strain underscores the whole piece.
“Where does vulnerability find its place in masculinity among young boys?” the directed tells Atwood Magazine. “How tough is it really to cry in front of your friend? Where exactly is the difference between masculinity and femininity? In this film, these are the questions we wanted to ask of the audience. I wanted to make this film to portray a phase in life that can often be extremely confusing, anxious, and filled with overwhelming emotions, while at the same time challenging the concept of masculinity and exploring if there is room for vulnerability within it. Personally, I am frustrated to have grown up with the feeling that I have to meet certain requirements to be “masculine” and that vulnerability has never had a place in the definition of the term. I want to explore these aspects of myself, and see if I can take back a part of me that I have been hiding since I was young.”
(I can’t believe I’m losing my way
Is this the end of all we have been
Oh how I thought this was forever
It was too good to be true)
I’ve been screaming silent beams
Different truths than it may’ve seemed
Illuminated skies
Forcing me to try
If I ever live to tell
Certain ways I know to well
Everything within
Scratching up my skin
I wanted to make this film to portray a phase in life that can often be extremely confusing, anxious, and filled with overwhelming emotions, while at the same time challenging the concept of masculinity and exploring if there is room for vulnerability within it.
Vulnerability has seldom had such a wonderful vessel through which to be heightened and cherished; “Don’t Wanna Know” beautifully showcases youth’s fragile, tender core, without adding any outside expectations or assumptions. Navigating (and in truth, discovering) one’s own identity is a long and sometimes arduous journey; this slice of music and film help give it an understanding home.
Together, Beharie and Bremnes have made a meaningful visual we’ll be returning to again and again. Watch “Don’t Wanna Know” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and get lost in the world of Beharie’s stunning new EP, out now!
When you ask me, I’ll say fine
You and me, the borderline
You’re slipping through my hands
Oh I don’t understand
Don’t you dare to run away
Suit me up, I’m here to stay
If it’s time to go
I don’t wanna know
(I can’t believe I’m losing my way
Is this the end of all we have been
Oh how I thought this was forever
It was too good to be true…)
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Stream: “Don’t Wanna Know” – Beharie
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