Sarah Brand’s Viral Video For “Red Dress” Makes Rebecca Black Look Like Mariah Carey … But Maybe That’s On Purpose?

At first it would seem like “Red Dress,” a music video created independently by singer Sarah Brand, is just your typical attempt at creating a viral video (albeit, a very cringeworthy one). Brand, currently a student at Oxford University, wrote and sang the song, and she directed, produced, choreographed, and edited the video, which she says “tells the story of an outsider in the context of organized religion. It covers exclusivity, hypocrisy, and reconciliation.” It is very homemade, and her singing skills are mediocre at best. But Brand and all of her social media marketing around the song don’t acknowledge any of that.

On Brand’s website, she explains, “I write all my music, as well as direct and edit music videos. I am currently living abroad in England for a Master of Science in Sociology at the University of Oxford. I received my B.A. in Sociology from UC Berkeley, with Highest Honors, and a minor in History.” Brand’s um, brand, is clear. It’s full of pro-social messaging from an educated woman wrapped up in a pop-star package. That all sounds great. Her online presence is equally positive, with Instagram posts that praise Mother Earth and show her bursting with positivity while visiting France and doing yoga. But. BUT. BUT.

The video itself, which has 213,000 views and counting, has a love-hate relationship with consistent frame rates. As for the “choreography”? Well, to quote Inigo Montoya, “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.” And while her voice might have potential, it’s safe to say that she needs someone to tell her how to use it. How about the writing? The song’s chorus borrows liberally from — a harsher critic might say “rips off” — Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams,” so at least she’s got decent influences?

In “Red Dress,” Brand plays up the dichotomy of virgins and whores and sings of the religious right who dare “judge in disgust,” but now that her song is going viral and she’s being called out by people like me, you know, “keyboard gangstas” as My Favorite Mob Wife Drita used to call internet trolls, am I actually the judgey one? Oof, this is a lot to process. I don’t like it. I want to be a woman who supports women. But I also want to be honest. Look, we can all watch Brand’s video and have a laugh, but also, let’s watch the video and applaud her, too, for being someone who’s just f—ing going for it. If she does have any self-consciousness, she certainly doesn’t let it cripple her or prevent her from doing what she wants. And if she doesn’t have any, well then good on her, I do not know what that’s like, truthfully. (My Favorite Mob Wife Drita, who I don’t usually bring up more than once a day, but here we are now referencing her twice, also used to say “Keep my name out of your mouth!” when she didn’t want her enemies talking about her, and here I am violating that rule as I critique Brand’s life’s work.)

I think all of us who watched the video are waiting for the second act in the “Red Dress” story. Will Brand eventually reveal that the joke’s on us and this was all just a gag, or will there be more videos from this budding pop star who could use a little polish, but she’s going to keep on pushing regardless? Or, perhaps, this song is just some sort of grand sociology experiment slash master’s thesis created by a burgeoning academic about the nature of virality in our social media age? I’ll have to subscribe to her YouTube channel (SarahBrandVEVO, which despite the name, is not actually affiliated with VEVO) to find out, and — hey! — that’s just what she wanted me to do all along, isn’t it?