“If You Love Something, Set It Free” is a poem that wrestles with the emotional complexities of love, sacrifice, and the bittersweet nature of letting go. Inspired by the famous proverb by Richard Bach, it explores the speaker’s devotion to nurturing a relationship through patience, kindness, and unconditional support. Yet, despite the depth of their love, the speaker comes to understand that true love sometimes requires stepping back and allowing freedom, even when it means enduring heartbreak. The poem’s central message is that love is not only about holding on—it’s also about standing aside, trusting that if something is truly meant to be, it will return.
When it came time to create a music video for this piece, my first challenge was deciding which version of the song to feature: the Reimagined Version or the EDM Mix. Both tracks form the heart of the two-track single, and I often had them on repeat late at night before its official release to the public. They share the same soul, yet each carries its own subtle nuances. The Reimagined Version leans into the feel of a Celtic ballad, its haunting flute solo weaving an ancient, timeless atmosphere. By contrast, the EDM Mix transforms the ballad into something more hypnotic and otherworldly—driven by layered beats and ghostly vocals.
One night, while listening, I drifted into sleep only to be startled awake by the instrumental passage of the EDM Mix, right before the line “I felt what you needed was time and space.” That moment hooked me—the way the music swelled, the way the vocals lingered and rose on the word ‘space’, where in the original version the inflection would have fallen instead. I found it spellbinding, and after that, I couldn’t stop replaying the track for hours. In that instant, I knew the EDM Mix had to become the foundation of the music video.
From the very beginning, I knew the core image of the project would echo the single’s cover art: a man releasing a white dove, his face filled with sorrow. That image encapsulates the essence of the story—the excruciating difficulty of letting go of something so beautiful. As I sketched out ideas for the narrative, one recurring vision stayed with me: a young woman in white, her gown symbolizing the dove’s feathers, running through the grounds of a grand estate overlooking the sea. It felt like a scene from a dream. Translating that vision into a real setting, I realized there was no place more perfect than Lake Como, with its sweeping villas and dramatic landscapes.
I knew from the outset that this was not simply a love story, but a tragedy—one where both characters bear sorrow in their decisions. The man suffers from loss; the woman, from guilt. She longs for freedom, as birds always do, for they are not meant to be caged. That realization inspired me to make her more than just human: a bird, gifted with the power to shift into human form. The man knew this when he fell in love with her, and yet, he chose to love her anyway. Adding this layer of myth and symbolism deepened the story, and it sparked in me the thought that one day I might publish a collection of short stories inspired by my poems, since each piece I write already feels like its own self-contained tale based on different themes around matters of the heart.
In the video, the story unfolds gradually. At first, the couple is shown in happier times, their love seemingly effortless. Slowly, however, the atmosphere shifts. Rain begins to fall, lightning streaks the sky, and with each passing scene the woman’s demeanor changes. She no longer smiles, even when he offers her a glass orb reflecting the moon—a gesture symbolizing his willingness to give her anything, even the impossible. The imagery suggests that perhaps she did ask for the moon, not out of need, but as a way of testing his devotion. Yet no gift, no promise, could silence her yearning for freedom.
Before she reveals this to him, the storm intensifies. Dark clouds gather as lightning tears across the sky above the tempestuous ocean, a raging sea hurls waves against the cliffs, thunder echoes through the hills, and the villa is shrouded in rain. It is in this atmosphere of inevitability that she finally confesses her truth. His silence speaks volumes—his face etched with heartbreak, his body heavy with sorrow. Though he lets her walk away, lowering his gaze as though accepting his fate, instinct soon drives him to chase after her, desperate not to lose her forever. These were pivotal scenes that I knew had to be captured in the video, and I’m pleased with how they turned out—the moment where she rushes down the staircase, followed shortly after by him descending another set of stairs, nearly slipping on the rain-soaked floor below yet refusing to let the stumble break his determination to win her back.
But fate has already chosen its path. On the villa’s edge, she makes her decision. With him watching helplessly, she leaps, her figure dissolving into wings as she transforms back into her true form: a white dove soaring into the stormy sky. A single teardrop falls down his cheek, the quiet embodiment of his grief.
Though the story builds toward heartbreak, I wanted the video to conclude not in sorrow alone, but with a glimmer of possibility—a reminder that hope endures when the heart remains earnest and true. The poem’s central truth remains: If you love something set it free, if it comes back then it’s meant to be… In the final scene, the man sits alone at his office window, when suddenly a bird appears. The question lingers—has she returned to him, or is it only a reminder of what once was? That mystery, I leave to each viewer to interpret.
Thank you for joining me in this behind-the-scenes journey into the making of “If You Love Something, Set It Free.” Stay tuned for more news, projects, and updates by visiting christopherlouiebooks.com.
