You once had the rare distinction of owning summer with a guilty pleasure bubblegum pop anthem, so how do you follow up? How could you ever top that?
Carly Rae Jepsen knows how: Make another infectiously catchy song and get Tom f-king Hanks to star in the video!
While “I Really Like You” is no “Call Me Maybe”, the video is delightfully weird and unlike anything we”ve ever seen. Here are five adorably WTF moments from Carly Rae Jepsen”s “I Really Like You”, starring Tom Hanks:
1.Tom Hanks lip-syncs Carly Rae”s ulta-mega-pop lyrics while walking around a version of New York City that is very obviously a sound stage, going about his day. He”s singing as Carly Rae but he”s living life as himself, Tom Hanks, which means he of course has to stop to sign autographs and take pictures with fans. You”d think the result would be psychotic and disorienting, but Hanks pulls it off, making this split personality believable.
2.In the car, still mouthing lyrics while Carly Rae”s song-bird voice leaves his lips, Hanks starts texting with Carly Rae, who is on his case for being late. In a self-aware, meta moment that could easily be missed if you”re not paying attention, she sends him this set of emojis: Man Running, Tree, Man Running. The main demographic for this video is teenage girls, who might not get the reference which, of course, is “Run Forest, Run”.
3. As Tom Hanks walks down the street, girls see his picture appear on Tinder, and swipe right. Like, duh.
4.Finally, he arrives in his dressing room where he meets up with Carly Rae. When it”s time for the lyric “I need to tell you something”, Hanks leans in and says, with Carly Rae Jepsen”s voice, to Carly Rae Jepsen: “I”m pregnant” and, “just kidding”. Then rejoices in a “got you!” moment. You got us, Tom Hanks! For a second there we thought you were pregnant with Carly Rae Jepsen”s baby, good one!
5.The video wraps up with a painfully cute dance number in the streets of Fake New York. The best part: Justin Bieber is dancing, virtually unnoticeable, shoved in the corner like Harry Potter at Dursley family dinner. Nobody puts Bieber in a corner, except for Carly Rae Jepsen.
This is easily the best music video out right now, but it stirs up some questions that are haunting me: Is the implication that Tom Hanks and Carly Rae Jepsen really like each other? They”re singing that lyric to each other, after all, and spend an entire day texting back and forth (the truest sign of having a crush). If so, is anyone concerned about the age difference? Where is Tom Hanks” wife in all of this? Who convinced Tom Hanks to do the video, and how? And, lastly, who is the true mastermind behind this twisted, brilliant creation? Whoever it is, I hope they”ll be making music videos for many years to come. Good job, team Carly Rae, you knocked this one out of the park.