It’s been four years since Rita Ora’s last album, and while four years is a long wait – especially in music years – the wait is certainly worth it as the British singer is back with a brand new song that speaks to the vulnerability in relationships.
Not only is Ora gracing the music world again with the song “You Only Love Me,” but she’s also accompanied it with a music video that’s just as interesting as the track itself. With cameos from household names and recognizable faces like Kristen Stewart, Lindsay Lohan, Jodie Turner-Smith, Chelsea Handler, Addison Rae, Sharon Stone, and others, it’s easy to see that Ora is not back to play.
The music video starts off with Lindsay Lohan, Addison Rae, Sharon Stone and others congratulating her on her wedding, before Kristen Stewart rounds out by saying: “I just had the craziest dream that you were getting married and I wasn’t there.”
If you really look at it, you’ll see that Stewart’s words are a play on reality, because no one knew Ora was getting married until she did. And it’s not a surprise that the singer would want to include that reality in her project, because, according to her, this upcoming album will cover her relationship with her now-husband Taika Waititi.
When the music video kicks off, Ora wakes up in what is her wedding day. With the bride, played by Rita Ora, and bridesmaids acting like they came from the colorful and chaotic world of Alice in Wonderland, a story unfolds about a bride getting ready for her big day.
After all the exaggerated steps that comes with getting ready for a white wedding, Rita Ora hurries off to church, only to see the building on fire.
To accompany this Stepford Housewives-like drama music video is a song that hears Ora speak about her vulnerability at the start of every relationship. “I’m outside your house again, freezing in the cold / Waiting for the moment I learnt to let go / I’ve been messed up a thousand times with tears in my eyes / But all the pain, it fades away, when you say it right.”
This song speaks personally to where the actress and The Masked Singer judge stands at this stage of her life, after connecting with the love of her life Taika Waititi over a year before they tied the knot in 2022.
Even though the first part of the song, and indeed the chorus, could easily lead one to believe that Ora is singing about a toxic on-again off-again relationship, the second part tells a different story.
“I can’t believe you look at me the way I look at you / ‘Cause no one’s ever loved me like the way that you do / I’ve been messed up a thousand times, but you make it right / And even on my darkest days, you show me the light.”
“You Only Love Me” is Rita Ora’s first song since she signed a new record deal with Sony BMG, which allows her to retain full ownership of her masters.