The first sequence of ‘Changes’ is an invitation to put down your cell phone as if it were cramping: no, please, no more Walkmans. No video tapes, no kids on bikes, no aerobics headbands. Enough with the 80s; We are not in 2010.
Then, when you recover from the cliché blow and listen to the song, you relax a little: you have to admit that the aesthetic of the video is coherent with the musical style of ‘Changes’, a bit like Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins (although it’s still lazy).
Continuing with Gabriel, director Charlotte Rutherford seems to have been inspired by ‘Sledgehammer’, one of the gems in the history of animated music videos. Especially in relation to the use of the stop-motion technique combined with the real image. In terms of tone, it is more reminiscent of the more playful and naive Michel Gondry.
Charlie Puth, dressed as if he had just stepped out of a John Hughes film or the ‘Problems Grow’ series, stars in a cheerful nostalgic-musical fantasy, whose most recognizable reference is the comedy ‘Big’ (1988) and its legendary “walking piano” sequence. ‘Changes’ can be seen as the representation of the thoughts and sensations evoked by listening to the song: instruments and sheet music flying across a blue sky in tune with the lightness of the pop melody that is playing.
The video includes a final wink for fans (or for clueless family and friends): the appearance of Brooke Sansone, the singer’s wife, announcing that she is in a state of good hope. The baby arrives in March.
