Posted by Emily Exton on 02/03/2012 at 8:55 AM Videos

The Popdust Files: adam lambert, Better Than I Know Myself

A short preview of Adam Lambert’s “Better Than I Know Myself” had us believing roughly four minutes would be spent admiring his penchant for cozy sweaters and enviable decorating techniques. We definitely get to do this in the full version, mind you, but it’s matched with a darker, angrier Lambert threatening to break through the other side of the wall. Everyone has that annoying neighbor. Instead of depicting a relationship with another person, it’s the complex relationship that Lambert has with himself that causes him to struggle the most. While Light Adam is content with reading and listening to music on his headphones—love that little shimmy at 0:58—his counterpart is restless, searching for something to make him feel whole, yet too often settling for alcohol and blind rage to self-medicate. Representing the difficulty in finding a balance between his highs and lows, both Adams come to a dramatic head through the mirror, with Dark Adam torching his apartment, then bullying Light into submission and smearing his eye makeup better than Katy Perry. Those new to Adam’s music may view this as an intense and overdramatic way to lose out on one’s security deposit, but true Glambert fans will appreciate the invitation to learn more about the battle with anger and emotional struggles that he, and many of us, fight everyday.