R. Kelly - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

August 07, 2012 Critic Jonni 0 Comments

I got an unofficial request for me to review this music video by Incubus27, it's definitely not the sort of song I listen to, although I have heard of it before, on the other hand I have never seen the video. This is the first time R. Kelly, real name Robert Kelly, has appeared on my blog... Will it be the last time? It's doubtful. He released his first album in 1992 (I wasn't even born then), and has managed to stay on top of things especially with people still talking about his music now, including his new songs. His most known song is "I Believe I Can Fly". His new songs have stopped being released in the UK, but I believe he will return at one point and when that happens the song is bound to be a chart hit.

This music video is in reverse, but it's the sort of video that you watch and totally forget that it's going backwards, the reason for that is because you connect with the story easily and you just accept it for what it is. Which is extremely clever, also some of the footage is going forwards as well so it's difficult to concentrate properly.

The narrative is gripping, you want to know why he wants to turn back the hands of time, not only that but you want to know what makes her argue with him. We see him not showing up at a dinner, and not answering his phone. But what really got me is when she "blows the candle on" (as it's in reverse) , she walks backwards to the bathroom, with footage of someone having a shower which I presumed was our main character, however as we see the bathroom there is another person entirely in the shower, as Nikki Grahame would say "Who Is She?"

I think that's all I can comment on, I like the ending, however it is expected. I believe there might be a few other issues hidden here and there if I look for them, but I like the use of the reverse footage, and I can't think of any other music videos that uses it to this extent. I like how the scenes they used make you think wow, like the candle and the basketball, as you forget it's going backwards. Overall great music video with a few faults here and there although they do their best to hide them.