wanting it all
by Douglas Messerli
Ryan Dolan and Wez Devine (lyrics and music), Ovié
Étseyatsé (director) Fall to the Floor / 2014 [4.15 minutes] [music video]
In the very same year when Eurovision star, pop
singer Ryan Dolan came out publicly as gay, he released the single Fall to
the Floor.
In this
2014 recording, the Irish performer Dolan combines what is basically a song of
sensation—the chorus repeats his emotional response,
But I fall to the floor
When you walk through that door
I fall down, I fall down
I fall to the floor
When you draw your sword
I fall down, I fall down
I fall down—
which he combines with a narrative of breaking up,
requiring him to show us the departing lover, and admit some of the vague
reasons for his lover’s return of the ring, packing up his bags, and leaving.
You say I'm dreaming
And that's why you're leaving
To want it all, is that so bad?
And now we're both hurting
Because we know it's not working
As we watch the curtain fall
We see the writing on the wall
One life one chance, one bad romance
It makes this easy
You can walk away
Now you've had your say
Go and grab your things
Throw away that ring
I don't want this any more
Overpowered
by his emotions, Dolan goes rushing after the car which carries away is lover (performed
by Elijah Rowen), and for a moment it appears as if the escaping partner may
stop, allowing a sort of reversal of what the chorus intones. But in the end,
the narrative wins out as the car speeds away with Dolan now a long distance in
the rearview mirror.
Since
2019, Dolan appears to have dropped out of the music scene; he now runs a pub
in County Tyrone.
Los Angeles, July 10, 2025
Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (July
2025).
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