Ciara - “I Bet” (Official Video)

In the video for her Future-side-eyeing new break-up single “I Bet,” Ciara turned herself into the quintessential music-box ballerina. If you grew up as a little girl in a certain era, then you probably had one of those little pink music boxes that ostensibly held your jewelry. The box was great, but the real treasure was the ballerina who would twirl to the music that played when you lifted the lid. That ballerina was a symbol that summed up all the grace and elegance of womanhood, so Ciara deploying imagery from a little girl’s childhood in a video about losing her relationship with the father of her child is a tragic juxtaposition. But this is still the woman who gave us “Goodies,” so she transitions seamlessly into a sexy white leotard to deliver some of the song’s adult lyrics about cheating and lying. The song’s final line says it all: “Right now it’s killing me/ Because now I have to find someone else/ When all I want is you.” Ciara doesn’t get anything out of the posturing bravado of a break-up song, she’s just carefully relinquishing her dreams for their future.