On November 23, 2018, Scarypoolparty (Alejandro Aranda) released a home video of “Poison” on his Youtube channel. The video now has 876,000 views and is considered one of his best acoustic songs among fans. He sang it on American Idol as one of the top 6 contestants on season 17 and it contributed to his popularity that season. He ended up as runner-up in the finale and amassed many fans from all over the world. Shortly after Idol, he went on a summer acoustic tour and then a fall tour all over the U.S. Since then, he has continued to put out music non-stop and already has 4 albums currently (Exit Form, Doom Hologram, Los Angeles, The Act of Forgiveness) not to mention 9 singles.
On August 7, 2021 Alejandro announced that his song, “Poison'' will be out on all streaming platforms the following week on August 13th. His fans were absolutely thrilled! They have been waiting and begging and hoping for a long time that one day soon, he will release a produced version of the song. That day, their dream came true.
And then...lo and behold, Alejandro announced that not only the song “Poison” will be released on August 13th, but also the video as well. Of course, the fans were elated and couldn’t wait until midnight that night to hear the song and watch the video. And the verdict??? Many absolutely loved it! The Youtube comments were very positive and they validated what many of us knew all along..that was going to be a masterpiece and it was not going to disappoint.
The video starts out with a hand holding a toy car moving towards a glass of water. Then, it shows Alejandro and a girl with red hair sitting in a car. She looks straight ahead with a completely stone face. Alejandro sings to her while looking in the mirror on a white dresser. Her face is turned away from him. He wears a red tie on his shirt, but then the tie is white when he looks in the mirror. You also see the girl looking through the glass of water. The toy car again moves towards the glass of water. The video switches between him looking at the back of her head in the mirror and both of them in the car sitting separately and not looking at one another. Then red smoke moves in front of Alejandro. Again, the video flashes to Alejandro sitting at the white dresser with the girl still facing away from him. Then the red smoke surrounds him. He stares at the glass of water. Then he takes the toy car and drops it in the water. He moves the glass aside. He looks at the camera for about 5 seconds. The video ends.
“Poison” is a song about a relationship that has become toxic (or poisonous). Watching the video, you can feel the loss of love that he has for the girl. There is a stark contrast between the colors red and white throughout the video. Perhaps red signifies anger and love, both in connection with passion. The color is powerful. On the contrary, white signifies purity and innocence, symbolizing a blank slate and a new beginning or fresh start. It may also mean to give up or surrender. In Asian culture, it can be associated with death. These colors symbolize their relationship, first as being passionate and loving and then eventually becoming toxic (red poison). The white shows that their relationship has become lifeless and meaningless. The red car is also significant in this video. Not only does Alejandro and the girl sit in the red car far away from one another in the front seats, but they are also looking straight ahead. Alejandro looks frustrated and has given up on the relationship. Throughout the video, you also see Alejandro and the girl both looking through the glass of water perhaps representing distortion in their relationship. Several times in the video, Alejandro holds a red toy car and moves it towards the glass of water. He then drops the car in a glass of water at the end of the video. Perhaps this signifies that the relationship has drowned and he has finally accepted that it’s over.
Alejandro has expressed on his Instagram that this song is very special to him and he “had to make sure it was perfect while recording it.” To his fans, the song is perfect.
“Poison” creates a vivid picture of heartache when a relationship is about to end. Alejandro has a distinct way of expressing himself in his songs and videos. Every lyric, every melody, every part of the video is intentional and deliberate. He makes sure that his true emotions are conveyed in every song. He makes sure that his videos make you feel the way he feels when he creates them. He has a vision for everything that he does. This is what makes him such a unique artist and musician. This is what makes him the genius that he truly is. He certainly leaves no stone unturned in his vast musical world.
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