My Halloween Special isn't all about the new Halloween songs, old ones have to totally be included as well. Although I am more of a fan of the more recent version of this song by Beatfreakz, which is also called "Somebody's Watching Me", there is just something more haunting about the original. The song features Michael Jackson singing the chorus, with Jermaine Jackson provides backing vocals. Rockwell arrives home thinking that "Somebody's Watching Me" inside his house. He envisions items and people, turning it into a very paranoid music video.
Rockwell, real name Kennedy Gordy, is the son of Motown founder Berry Gordy. He had a short-lived career in the 80's, releasing three albums and ten singles. This debut single is his biggest hit, possibly because of the featured vocals of Michael Jackson as well as the backing vocals from Jermaine Jackson. The song hit the UK charts at number six, but Beatfreakz did better by hitting number three in the UK. In the US, Rockwell hit number two with this song. But got to the top spot in Spain and Belgium. The song was written by Rockwell.
The music video is low-budget and directed by Francis Delia. It's a complete narrative with a short performance piece embedded within.
Rockwell arrives home to discover his house has become haunted. He envisions various things, from his dog being a mutant pig, to someone watching him in the shower. It's relatable from start to finish.
The star is really not having the best time in his house. Even the people on the TV come up to the screen and watch him. There's also this freakish butler who appears in the background of the thumbnail. He also envisions himself buried in the graveyard, as well as various other spooky things.
This is inspired by the film 'Psycho', but the visions is reminiscent of 'The Dead Zone'. The haunted house theme is a classic Halloween storyline that always manages to scare. Michael Jackson, unfortunately, doesn't appear in the music video, regardless of the fact that he provides the vocals for the chorus, neither does Jermaine Jackson.
The ending of the video leaves it on quite the cliff-hanger, maybe his visions were all leading up to this point. It's a great low-budget music video that has everything we could possibly need. The singing in the shower performance piece isn't so engaging and feels a little too fake and Rockwell is totally not comfortable being filmed in the shower.
I've never been sure what to think of the Jonas Brothers, in some ways their songs are really good, and then they release a song that makes me want to forget all about them, sometimes I like them and then sometimes I don't, and to be honest, I don't think there is another artist out there that makes me feel this way. So... They are currently on hiatus as they pursue different projects, could this help them build up more of a fan base? Or could it just make it worse? Time will tell. The Jonas Brothers currently consist of Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas and Kevin Jonas. At the moment Joe Jonas is going solo (one of his music videos I have already reviewed), Nick Jonas is in a totally different band called "Nick Jonas and the Administration" (which I have grown to really like lately, it's just a shame they haven't been doing well with their chart positions). And Kevin Jonas is currently doing........... Nothing. No solo project about, no new band, just a marriage, and nothing else... Maybe he's waiting for the hiatus to end?
This song is called Paranoid, and is one of the most recent Jonas Brothers' song to appear on the UK singles chart. The Brothers wrote this song with Cathy Dennis and John Fields. Obviously the song is about being "Paranoid" but also not knowing where you fit into this world, and being unsure where you should take your next step because you fear the unknown. I'm not entirely sure how these thoughts ended up in the brothers' heads but you can tell that the lyrics come straight from them because they sing this song really well. It's pretty difficult to make a music video around these song lyrics, but I think they've done a good job and made it funny at the same time.
I really like this music video, I'm not much of a fan of the song, it becomes boring after a few repeats, but the music video is good. I like how Kevin ends up being in a room full of himself, he is a little out-of-this-world anyway and so this represents him perfectly. I'm not sure what the connection is with Joe's wrestling scenes, maybe he wanted to be a wrestler at one point? Or maybe he fears being put into that sort of situation. Anyhow, I like Nick's part where he tries to outrun the other car, and I always like the door bit and how he doesn't smash.
I especially like the end and I don't think I'll ever understand anyone who doesn't like this music video. I like how it represents the song and although it looks a little cheap, it works well. This music video stands out from their other ones as this one has a lot more going on and it has more of a storyline.
Overall, the song is now getting a little boring, but the music video is really good. No matter what I think of the brothers, it doesn't matter, as I really like the scenes and I could watch it again and again (maybe without the song). As I have mentioned many times before, my rating is based on the music video alone, and so the song has nothing to do with it, so I hope you all agree with me.
