BY MIKAYLA LAWLESS
“Don’t Touch the Queen” is the newest music video to come out of the indie pop band Kezar. It focuses on seven fierce women who come from various professions, from a computer science initiative director at Google, to a film director.
The song was actually inspired by an incident that was witnessed in a club. The band’s front member, Jack Mosbacher, was speaking to a woman when a man who was drunk stumbled up to her and groped her. She immediately punched the man in the face and stated: “Uh-huh. Don’t touch the queen.” It was a wildly empowering moment to experience, and that's when the project was born.
The music video begins with each woman introducing herself, explaining who she is in this world. Each scene shows each woman in her daily life; taking care of the kids or directing a film. Throughout the video, each woman puts on beautiful dresses and gowns, framing their faces with crowns made of flowers or gold. Lyrics such as, “she is a victory, she is a legacy,” give power to the message being made. One specific moment in the video that sparks chills throughout all of its viewers is when all the women confidently place their crowns — made of leaves, flowers, or even pearls — on top of their heads. In comes a wave of confidence, and most importantly, a sense of control. Too often, women are made to feel as though they have no authority over their own lives. They feel as though they cannot change their lives, that they are stuck living as the same person everyday. Wearing their own individual crowns shows their individuality.
The end is definitely one of the most breathtaking pieces of art this video has to offer. All seven women walk up the stairs, a few carrying gasoline and lighters. They ultimately end up in front of a plaque, seemingly having set fire to it. The plaque is meant to symbolize all the hardships they have been through, personal and in society. It is an incredibly moving message of how these seven women decided to take control of their lives in spite of what the universe was throwing at them — and it insists that anyone else can do it, too.
