Alec Benjamin’s latest single “Oh My God,” which he released today (Feb. 13), reflects on what could happen if fame catches up to him in the future and he loses who he once was.
“Oh My God” is the fifth single off Benjamin’s debut studio album, These Two Windows, which is due April 3 via Atlantic Records. Shortly after dropping his first LP, Benjamin is bound for a Coachella performance, but he doesn’t feel so good about the fast life in the new song and accompanying video.
He foreshadows a lonely, older version of himself living in a clear Hollywood Hills mansion and contemplating, “Oh my god, look in the mirror/ I was young, nothing to fear once/ What have I done, how did I get here?” in the electronically-tinged rousing chorus.
Scurring past the flashing cameras and pushing past the crowd, the older Benjamin finds solace in the car ride back home. But he can’t settle down once he sees his young reflection in the mirror (Benjamin himself today) as a haunting memory of what was.
The 25-year-old artist alludes to Elton John’s No. 6 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)” from 1972 when he sings in the pre-chorus, “I’m lost just like Will Robinson/ Or rocket man in space” to emphasize how forlorn he feels. He mirrors the reclusive feel of John’s original chorus lyrics — “I’m a rocket man/ Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone” — as early as the first verse of “Oh My God,” when he describes himself as “Running low on patience, running low on fumes.”
Benjamin’s fight to stay intact with himself feels more and more like a lost cause in the inner-directed clip.
Watch the “Oh My God” music video below.