Today, I want to explore the rich imagery and symbolism in Rosalía’s latest video, “Berghain.”
I must admit, I never paid much attention to her music before. Flamenco and reggaeton aren’t usually my style. But the algorithm insisted on showing me this video again and again. And it turns out, it knows me better than I thought.
It recognised that I listen to classical music and enjoy opera arias, and that I’m drawn to strong visual storytelling. “Berghain” brings all of this together beautifully, and I ended up loving it.
The video is full of symbolic layers, emotional references, and clever visual choices. Here, I break down some key moments and what they represent.
Losing Identity: From the Bitten Apple to the Broken Heart
At the start of the video, we see a bitten apple placed on the table and in the opposite side of the room an image of the Virgin Mary. This contrast between Eve and Mary is a long-standing symbol of sin versus purity, but in this context it feels more emotional than religious.
Later references to Snow White suggest something different: not sin, but losing herself inside a toxic relationship.
This idea becomes even clearer when Rosalía sings:
His fear is my fear
His rage is my rage
His love is my love
His blood is my blood.
These lines speak of a complete loss of identity, as if her emotional boundaries disappeared. She becomes an extension of someone else.
Just like Eve was cast out of Eden, Rosalía loses her sense of inner home.
Mary’s presence, then, becomes a symbol of redemption, a path back to herself, echoed once more later in the video with Björk’s divine-like voice guiding her.
The Rosary Shoes at 00:33: A Personal “Via Crucis”
One of the strongest images appears at second 33, the age Christ died.
We see a close-up of Rosalía’s shoes made of rosary beads.
This is powerful symbolism:
The rosary represents suffering and spiritual endurance.
The shoes show that she must walk with this pain through her everyday life.
This is her personal “via crucis”, her own path through emotional hurt, even while her day-to-day looks normal from the outside.
The Orchestra as Intrusive Thoughts
Throughout the video, Rosalía is followed everywhere by a full orchestra. They appear in buses, shops, streets, never leaving her side as a visual metaphor for intrusive thoughts and grief that follows you everywhere.
It’s a brilliant and elegant way to illustrate what internal struggle feels like.
Trying to Fix a Broken Heart from the Outside
Another meaningful moment is when she turns to science and craftsmanship to fix her broken heart.
She seeks help from others, hoping they can restore what was damaged.
But none of it works.
Outsourcing healing doesn’t bring peace. This mirrors a truth many of us know well, you can’t delegate emotional recovery.
Facing the Shadows: The Forest in Her Flat
The turning point comes when she enters a dark, forest-like space inside her own flat.
This is the symbolic “shadow”, the part of herself she avoided, but it holds the key to her transformation.
Real healing only begins when you face your darkness and pain, not when you run from it. It’s a poetic way to show how confronting the deepest part of yourself leads to liberation.
Berghain” is more than a music video, it’s a beautifully crafted work of visual storytelling, full of metaphors about heartbreak, identity, and emotional rebirth. From its Baroque-inspired music to the modern sounds that follow, and with visuals rich in symbolism, it becomes a truly moving and unforgettable piece of art, whether you love Rosalía or not.
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Thank you for reading.
Bye for now.