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Jennifer Ortiz-Gomez

Professor Ms. Hunter

ENG-1112

January 28, 2022

Infidelity: I Was Quiet, but I Was Not Blind

“You've made me realize my deepest fear by lying and tearing us up.” (Smith,2014) Over

the course of history, infidelity has been the leading factor for couples breaking up, marriage

breakdowns, and divorces. Many people are convinced that cheating is due to one or both

partners being unhappy, dissatisfied, or having some other personal problems. Media often

portrays infidelity as a moral dilemma, which characters must deal with. In reality, social media

has made adultery more accessible with apps like Tinder, allowing you to connect with like-

minded people. There are various media outlets that do not depict infidelity as a moral dilemma;

popular music videos such as "I'm Not the Only One" by Sam Smith, shows the grief that an

individual can suffer from, as a result of extramarital affairs. The original song by Sam Smith has

a sad melody, using a piano soul ballad, anchored by orchestral strings, and a gospel structure.

Other versions of that same song take on an upbeat tone, such as: "I'm not the only one" by

Sheeren Brizan, with a reggae beat. Reggae is a popular style of music; it was first created in

Jamaica in the 1960s but quickly spread throughout the rest of the world. Reggae evolved

primarily from another type of Jamaican music, ska, and combines musical elements of jazz and

Motown. "I’m Not the Only One" originally written by Sam Smith with Jimmy Napes, and “I

Am Not the Only One Reggae Cover” by Sheereen Brizan, demonstrate infidelity and emotional
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attachment as common themes in both songs; however, Sam Smith's version has a much more

emotional visual storyline, making it appeal to a broader audience.

Sam Smith's original rendition and Sheeren Brizan's visual interpretation of the song both

show emotional attachment; however, Sam Smith's original version is able to emotionally engage

the audience by using pathos, to express the wife's devastating reality. Sheeren’s music video

starts with a phone call to her partner, where she explicitly tells him “You had me fooled…You

know exactly what I mean…Let me tell you” (Sheeren, 2015). Following her singing of "I’m Not

the Only One", we are shown multiple flashbacks of happy moments Sheeren shared with her

significant other. After presenting a flashback of the couple laughing, and having a good time on

a beach, we see the sadness in her eyes as she sings the lyrics, “You've been so unavailable, now

sadly I know why” (Sheeren, 2015). Seeing her heartache as she sings these sad lyrics, we see

these wonderful memories of their love; we can see through the intense pain in her eyes that she

still loves him and is emotionally attached to him, but at the same time, she’s hurt by what he

did. This is an interesting perspective to represent visually in her video because, Sheeren is just

trying to mentally understand how he could do this if they were so happy; this is something

anyone facing heartbreak can relate to. However, Sam Smith’s original interpretation focuses on

the connection between the audience and the wife in the music video, thus allowing for an appeal

to a broader audience with its visual storyline. The video opens with a happy marriage, the

husband in a suit and tie getting ready for work; he then says goodbye to his lovely wife in a

white dress and drives away through their white fence. In the video, the wife looks around her

perfect home; suddenly she’s on the floor taking her marriage ring off. It’s fascinating that at the

beginning of the song there is already an emotional appeal towards the wife, since as a society

we value marriage as permanent, and sacred. One of the strongest verse in the song says, “I wish
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this would be over now, but I still need you here” (Smith 2014); this specific line represents how

much the wife loves him, how emotionally attached she is to him, as evidenced by the mascara

running down her face. As an audience you automatically sympathize with the wife; you want

the wife not to feel that way towards the man, we as spectators see on screen, flirting and being

intimate with his mistress.

In comparison to Sheeren Brizan's interpretation, Sam Smith's

storyline produced a stronger emotional bond, between the audience and wife

with the help of ethos and logos presented in the video. Sheeren's interpretation of the song, was

only able to showcases her emotional attachment to her partner through the visual representation

of memories they shared; however, Sam Smith's storyline depicts the infidelity happening, this

allows the audience to have a stronger emotional connection with the wife. At the beginning of

the song “I’m Not the Only One” by Sam Smith, we see wife driving and crying in the car as the

lyrics state, “For months on end I’ve had my doubts, denying every tear” (Smith, 2014). This line

demonstrates ethos and helps build the wife’s credibility that this isn’t jealousy, as one might

assume, since it is a main issue in any type of relationship. The second set of lyrics that help the

wife’s credibility is from the chorus, “you say I’m crazy, cause you don’t think I know what

you’ve done” (Smith, 2015). The chorus implies that this is not something she's just freaking out

about; this allows us to sympathize with her distress, since she has doubted this for months.

Suddenly, we see the husband cheating right on screen as the lyrics of the song state “when you

call me baby, I know I am not the only one” (Smith, 2014). This line is the perfect representation

of logos; it’s also interesting to note, that the first moment an actual kiss between the man and

his mistress happens, is the exact moment the wife grabs a bottle of wine and starts to drink it. In

the video there is a lot of back-to-back visual contrast of, happy and sad, day and night, and even
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the clothes are black and white (the wife wears a white dress, while the clothes of the husband

and his mistress are black). This visual contrast helps build the audience's anger towards the

husband. The more intimate the relationship between the husband and his mistress becomes, the

angrier we as spectators become; this is well portrayed by the fire the

wife makes as she burns the husband’s clothes.

As common themes in both songs, infidelity and emotional attachment are evident;

however, Sam Smith's version takes a visual approach with a much more emotional feel, making

it more appealing to a broader audience. The media often depicts infidelity as a moral dilemma

that character’s face, however both renditions, "I Am Not the Only One" originally written by

Sam Smith with Jimmy Napes, and “I Am Not the Only One Reggae Cover” by Sheereen Brizan,

of the same song depict the grief that can be experienced by those affected by extramarital

affairs. In conclusion, Sam Smith’s original version made a bigger connection to the emotions of

the audience, using a visual storyline with the help of logos, pathos, and ethos.
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Works Cited

“I'm Not The Only One - Sam Smith ( Reggae Cover) by SHEEREEN BRIZAN” - Youtube.

Uploaded by Simon Green, August 1, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=ykXo_tqw34Q. Accessed on January 26, 2022

“Sam Smith - I'm Not the Only One (Official Video)” - Youtube. Uploaded by Sam Smith, April

20, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCkpzqqog4k. Accessed on January 26, 2022