Music

Having been friends and talking about collaborating for years, JoJo and Zelda team up for the video of the song about addiction, something their fathers struggled with before their deaths.

• Jan 9, 2016

AceShowbiz - JoJo released the music video for "Save My Soul" on Friday, January 8 and dedicated it to her father Joel Levesque, who died a few months ago. The singer enlisted Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late Robin Williams, to direct the emotional visuals.

Inspired by addiction her father had struggled with for years prior to his death, JoJo's video finds her in the middle of a desert. In a separate place, some young men and women including JoJo herself are seen smoking, cuddling, expressing anger and laughing while sitting on a yellow couch.

In an Instagram post accompanying the video, JoJo said that she filmed the clip "about a month before my father lost his decades long battle with addiction." Of why she wanted Zelda to direct it, she explained that they'd been friends and talking about working together for 10 years.

"Because of the content of the song and the way it touched us both, 'Save My Soul' felt like the natural place for us to finally collaborate," she wrote. "A group of us young, crazy, creatives drove out to the magical desert of Joshua Tree and got naked - most of us emotionally, and a few literally. It was a safe space to be vulnerable and free from judgment and the need to be/ look/ act 'perfect.' Everyone who participated connected to the song and brought their truth to the table."

��¢ï¿½ï¿½Save My Soul��¢ï¿½ï¿½ is about addiction. Of all kinds. I wanted to convey the feeling of powerlessness I've felt in my life in an uncomplicated way and show a range of what it might look like for others who've been there. Working with one of my best friends, Zelda Williams (director of SMS), was a highlight of my 2015. We'd been talking about working together for like 10 years! Because of the content of the song and the way it touched us both, ��¢ï¿½ï¿½Save My Soul��¢ï¿½ï¿½ felt like the natural place for us to finally collaborate. A group of us young, crazy, creatives drove out to the magical desert of Joshua Tree and got naked - most of us emotionally, and a few literally. It was a safe space to be vulnerable and free from judgment and the need to be/ look/ act "perfect". Everyone who participated connected to the song and brought their truth to the table. We filmed this video about a month before my father lost his decades long battle with addiction. His death honestly felt like it came out of nowhere��¢ï¿½��¦and yet I had been mourning him for years��¢ï¿½��¦if that makes any sense. I know all too well from seeing it around me that the fight is not easy. It's every day. All consuming. I'm not mad at my dad. I love him and I'm sad. He is my greatest heartbreak. This song, which had always been personal to me, takes on even deeper meaning now. "I try to run but it hurts every time I try... Lord I try and I can't say no." Makes me think of the universal struggle of seeking victory over the feeling of powerlessness to a situation, a lover, a drug. Losing my father at the end of last year and knowing the propensity for addiction of all kinds that runs deep in my blood from both sides makes it next-level important for me to LIVE - not just be alive, but THRIVE in his honor. I can do this. And so can you. If you're struggling, believe the only way OUT is THROUGH. Keep going. Love, Jo. P.S. Thank you to the beautiful crazies who dedicated their time and energy to come together and make this video possible. It wouldn't have happened without you.

A photo posted by JoJo (@iamjojo) on Jan 8, 2016 at 9:08am PST

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JoJo went on talking about her dad, who passed away last November. "His death honestly felt like it came out of nowhere...and yet I had been mourning him for years...if that makes any sense. I know all too well from seeing it around me that the fight is not easy. It's every day. All consuming. I'm not mad at my dad. I love him and I'm sad. He is my greatest heartbreak."

Hey guys! The day has finally arrived! @iamjojo and I stole some misfits to the desert and filmed Save My Soul a while ago now, but you finally get to see it. To read a bit about my thoughts directing it and to watch our video, you can head over to zeldawilliams.tumblr.com, @iamjojo's Twitter, or, yknow, head to youtube! Be gentle! It's my first time ��°ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ xo - Zelda

A photo posted by Zelda Williams (@zeldawilliams) on Jan 8, 2016 at 9:00am PST

Zelda, whose actor father also struggled with addiction before he took his own life in 2014, also explained the video she directed in her own statement shared via Tumblr. "Save My Soul is Jo's very real, very honest ode to addiction, and in her expressing her truth, I wanted to give others the opportunity to do the same," she wrote.

"So, because I like to make things interesting (and arguably difficult), I decided to drag a therapist's couch into the middle of Joshua Tree and make our wonderful band of misfit friends sit on it... the courage it took Jojo to sing this song deserved courage in return, and each of them delivered on that a hundred fold. I wanted the real, beautiful emotions of people we both know and love to be the instruments that played alongside Jo, and that's exactly what I got," she added.