Every morning on my drive to school, I listen to The Bobby Bones Show broadcast on a country radio station in Austin. During spring break while listening, Bobby, the show’s head personality, was discussing Sam Hunt and his newly released music video for “Take Your Time”. Interestingly enough, the music video revolves around domestic violence, a highly publicized topic in the media since Ray Rice was charged with assault on his wife in 2012. After having listened to the song, I was surprised by the message of the video; it seemed to me like a song about romance, and a guy who wants to treat a girl right. After much discussion on the radio about how the music video fits with the song, I decided it was worth looking into.
The video opens with a confusing fight scene between two unrecognizable people, and the song starts with Sam Hunt walking away from the camera. The video alternates between these two people interacting and Hunt walking down a street. Hunt and the woman have multiple run-ins, but don’t actually interact. This woman takes care of cleaning up after her boyfriend, evident by the large quantity of beer bottles in their home. After the first chorus, the woman and her boyfriend are seen fighting, which takes an emotional toll on the woman. After he gets in a fight in the bar, the couple gets into a fight and he hits her. She proceeds to lock herself in their room while he is outside the door, and begins packing her clothes and her son to move. As she’s about to get into the car, her husband starts hitting her again. Sam Hunt comes up off the street and intervenes, allowing the girl to get away. The video closes out with the boyfriend walking off and the woman and baby safe, but with a large bruise on her cheekbone.
After watching the video, I can completely see how the song connects with the theme of the music video. His lyrics say “I don’t want to steal your freedom”, which clarifies that his intentions are only to help her, instead of taking advantage of her vulnerability in the situation. He also states that “[he] ain’t gotta call you mine”, implying that his interest is more focused in helping her with her situation than fulfilling his desires. Overall, I thought the music video was extremely relatable and deeply intertwined with the lyrics of the song. Sam Hunt portraying a character who acts a Good Samaritan is a great image to perpetuate as he gains more momentum in the music industry. I fully support the belief that the song and the movie follow the same plot line, and I think Hunt does a good job bringing a negative situation to public attention without being depressing.
I’ve heard this song so many times and just now watched the music video for the first time. Before I watched the video, you said it was about domestic violence and I thought that couldn’t be true. However, after watching the video, I think it totally makes sense. I always thought it was about a guy just trying to pick a girl up at a bar, but I love that the song has a deeper meaning than that. The timing is really good for this song considering how domestic violence has been widely talked about these past few years. Not only that, but I agree that it’s important for Sam Hunt to be projecting this “Good Samaritan” image while he’s still gaining popularity.