March For Our Lives - The Most Vicious Cycle

Winner of 18 Clios overall - 10 Music Clios

We created a music video using the familiar storytelling device of a Rube Goldberg machine to illustrate the endless cycle of gun violence in America. Kesha and her younger brother, Sage Sebert, had written and recorded (but never released) “Safe” in the days after the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. We commissioned (a then unsigned artist) Chika, to write two verses that describe what it’s like being a student in the era of mass shootings. Chika has since become a major recording artist and was nominated for the Best New Artist at the 2020 Grammy Awards.

The video launched on MTV’s Total Request Live and the 9 min video aired in its entirety every hour for an entire weekend.

Most Vicious Cycle Posters

Safe written by Sage Sebert, Kesha, Chika

Lyrics

[Chorus - Sage + Kesha]
In a mad man's world
Happens every day
I don’t understand
Why the rules can't change
I don't wanna be a moment of silence
I don’t wanna be an early grave
When I'm walking through the halls
I don't wanna be brave
I just wanna be safe

[Verse 1 - Chika]
We were just looking for a good time
Now it's goodbyes for no reason
Every day gun season
Breathin' was uneven
People down on knees and
Everything was a blur
Can't tell you where he was
But I remember where we were
(Look)
Lately we can't even have our past times
We leave our homes and wonder if it'll be our last time

[Pre-Chorus - Sage + Kesha]
If I die before I wake
Please forgive all my mistakes
Know that I was gonna stand for
Something, something, something
I’ve got so much life to live
And I’ve got so much love to give
Please don't take it all for nothing
Nothing, nothing, nothing

[Chorus - - Sage + Kesha]
In a mad man’s world
Happens every day
I don't understand
Why the rules can't change
I don't wanna be a moment of silence
I don’t wanna be an early grave
When I'm walking through the halls
I don't wanna be brave
I just wanna be safe

[Verse 2 - Chika]
Politicians only slight work
Tell me what is my life worth
Mamas look at babies saying bye while they in diapers
Used to be afraid of snipers
Boogie Man, Pied Piper
Now we in the street afraid of rifles
They end up in the wrong hands
Say we shouldn't ban all
Does the right to bear arms trump the fight to stand tall
Cause the money, greenest foliage in cemeteries
People up in power cool with laws remaining sedentary
Think I've had enough of it
I'm just putting up with it
We gotta make a difference
We won't let them take another kid
I'm done with it

[Pre-Chorus - - Sage + Kesha]
If I die before I wake
Please forgive all my mistakes
Know that I was gonna stand for
Something, something, something
I've got so much life to live
And I've got so much love to give
Please don't take it all for nothing
Nothing, nothing, nothing

[Chorus - - Sage + Kesha]
In a mad man's world
Happens every day
I don't understand
Why the rules can't change
I don't wanna be a moment of silence
I don't wanna be an early grave
When I'm walking through the halls
I don't wanna be brave
I just wanna be safe