PREMIERE — Caity Krone’s “I’ve Been Lonely” Explores Solitude and Pink Frosting
written by Ruby Box || photography by Brad Golding
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MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERE: In quarantine, we have no choice but to identify with the isolation detailed in Caity Krone’s “I’ve Been Lonely”. The dreamy, folky pop tune is both the Los Angeles singer/songwriter’s second release of the year and her debut music video (directed by Bradley Golding and filmed the day after her birthday).
As the self-confessed 'Pisces sun, Leo moon, Pisces rising' expressing longing for an unrequited love, she holds gaze with the camera, making you feel as if the song could be about you. Yet as she mouths the chorus and titular “I’ve Been Lonely”, you begin to feel as if you must have been the one who penned it. When she isn’t speaking directly to the soul of the viewer, she spends the clip serenading a kitsch, bubblegum pink cake. Adorned with glace cherries, mountains of frosting and shimmering edible pearls, the cake is truly the star of the show. When asked about the cake’s presence in the video, Krone explains:
“Idealizing people, feeling unworthy and insecure about myself, and not being grateful for the life I had made me feel sad and shut out a lot of the time, so it felt like I was passing all of these developmental milestones without really being present for them. Like I was watching all the other kids live life through a window. The cake represents that, I think.”
“We sort of just decided as we went that we were going to do all pink to match the cake and the record room,” Krone goes on to say, commenting on the whirlwind of pink throughout the clip. Intertwined with these blush-y tones are the realities of isolation, and warm film footage that could have easily been found in the back of a parent’s wardrobe. “A lot of my visual and musical influences are from the sixties and seventies, but it was really important to not fall into a trap of retro fetishism with my music, writing, or visuals,” Krone explains. “Then it’s just inauthentic, replicating an era like that. I hope the mixed media communicated the earnestness of the song.”
“The freedom conveyed through spinning around in shallow waves and smearing absurdly pink frosting across your face is something that can only be felt when left to your own devices.”
As she eventually wets her rosy gown and destroys the ornate, now-infamous cake, a sense of relief washes over the track. Comfortable in her loneliness, and no longer needing to lean on inanimate sweet treats for company or delusion, Krone teaches us about the benefits of seclusion. The freedom conveyed through spinning around in shallow waves and smearing absurdly pink frosting across your face is something that can only be felt when left to your own devices.
The song is such a quintessential mixture of catchy and relatable that by the end of the tune, you’re singing along without realising. Caity Krone’s “I’ve Been Lonely” is one I see myself swaying along to with friends as we welcome the morning sun — whenever we can next. But at its heart, the track is an anthem for time spent alone, through the peaks and valleys of loneliness.
“I hope it makes a person who’s in love feel more in love, and someone who’s lonely feel like they’re not alone.”
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