Actor and musician Anthony Ramos reunites with his In the Heights costar Melissa Barrera in his new music video for his single, “Say Less.”
Ramos and Barrera let off some major steam as they spend a fair amount of the four-minute video with their bodies and faces gliding around one another in a series of outdoor settings. Barrera must be wearing some amazing perfume because Ramos has his nose everywhere.
The video begins with Barrera standing on a dark road alone before Ramos walks up and embraces her from behind. A red hue covers them both as some instrumental music begins. The scene then moves to the carefree couple traveling by car during the day followed by a quick look at Barrera standing at the foot of a staircase leading up to a doorway emitting light.
The video continues transitioning between these three settings as Ramos sings about a relationship that seems to be frustrating Barrera’s character who has been waiting for Ramos to show up to “make up for lost time.”
The rest of the song is basically about sex or at least uses its lyrics as a double entendre. With lyrics like “Open it, pull me in, do what you want/Put it down like you never did before” and “Still I remember how you like it rough/Dig your nails, say it’s not enough” leave little for interpretation.
Overall, the message of the song seems to be about a couple that is in a stagnant relationship but stick around because the sex is good. Also, although they haven’t seen each other in a while, the song seems to be saying that time shouldn’t be wasted by actually talking or trying to figure out how to make things work. “Just say less, less, less/Say less, less,” Ramos sings.
There are a few moments during the music video where it seems like Barrera’s character has driven off, leaving Ramos stranded on the dark road and running after the car that left him behind, so there might be reason to think that when he tells her, “Show me what you’re feelin’ tonight,” she wasn’t necessarily interested in feelin’ him.
Nevertheless, the video leaves more questions than answers like what’s inside that bright door at the top of the stairs? Heaven? A place of mystic self-transcendence? Or maybe it’s a symbol for a happy relationship that they will never reach? Also, when Ramos and Barrera are exploring each other’s bodies in the car, who’s driving the vehicle? It’s no wonder the final shot ends in a literal blaze of glory.