Keeper E. knows falling in love can feel strange; a warmth, a sense of safety, a euphoric excitement from spending time with a special person. When you’re apart, however, you can find yourself pining for your lover and the daydreaming can distract from your normal routine.
“This song is about getting to know yourself better and hoping that you will keep caring for yourself, even when you are so enthralled with someone else,” says Keeper E.
In the video for “Please Don’t Tell Me,” lush production and Keeper E.’s beautiful voice are accompanied by idyllic visuals that perfectly sum up the initial feeling of new love.
“You are so very distracting, I wake up tired from dreaming” sings Keeper E. as she and her love interest wander through a landscape that could have been ripped from the canvas of a Monet painting. The scenes rapidly shift between gleeful frolicking and a moody Keeper E. sitting with her love interest as a very literal illustration of the trials and tribulations of falling for someone.
The song is a combination of whimsical folk and heavy electronic production and wouldn’t feel out of place on the more recent Bon Iver albums – especially when the vocoder backing vocals come in at the end.
“This video shows the tensions between freedom and constraints and brings to life the last line of the song; ‘I don’t know how to be bound up with you but free’,” says Keeper E.
In the last section of the song, a denim-clad Keeper E. stands in the deep end of an empty pool while surrounded by people wearing all-white playing with various children’s toys (including a very focused hula hooper behind her) as she sings “please don’t tell my I’m pretty and you love me.” This is a plea from Keeper E. to be loved more “deeply and fully” rather than solely for her physical beauty.
Sometimes when one becomes really enamoured with someone they can get so wrapped up in their feelings for this person that they begin to lose their identity; they spend every moment together, neglect other important relationships and spend less time on their passions.
Keeper E. does a stunning job of conveying the complicated feelings of a love beginning to bloom on “Please Don’t Tell Me.”