The One That Got Away

"The One That Got Away" is a song performed by Regina Harper for her sophomore album Serenity. The song, originally by The Civil Wars, was released as a promotional digital-only single from the album on June 30th 2014. An accompanying music video, directed by Anthony Mandler, was released also.

Speaking about the song, Regina said that "Serenity is an album all about love. And while most of the songs are happy, this one is really dark and shows the other side of love. When things turn sour".

When reviewed as part of Serenity, the track received mostly positive reviews. Some critics questioned why Regina felt the need to include two cover tracks on her album. But most were quick to agree that, had one not been aware of the originals, the songs felt like they could easily have been written by Regina. NME called the song "the darkest one on the album, but definitely one of the best".

Background
The music video for the track was shot in late April 2014 and premiered on Regina's official VEVO account in June 2014. Anthony Mandler, the video directer, came up with the video's concept (alongside Regina) after watching the hit Netflix original series Orange Is The New Black. "The video is nothing like the show" says Harper "But the idea of me being in prison for the video kinda stood out to me, so I phoned Anthony up with the idea and he thought it was perfect". Orange Is The New Black stars Natasha Lyonne and Danielle Brooks both make cameos in the video. The entire video is in black and white, except for the flames seen during the final scenes.

Synopsis
The video begins by showing a large building in the middle of nowhere. A sign outside shows it to be called Brookfield Women's Prison. The camera shows female prisoners lining up to given their evening meal in a cafeteria. Regina, sporting a short and uneven haircut, is sitting by herself and staring into her bowl of soup. Other inmates begin looking at her and whispering. A prisoner comes up to her (portrayed by Natasha Lyonne) and takes hold of her hand. Subtitles show that she says: "Don't mind them, I killed my husband too". Another woman (Danielle Brooks) joins them, taking Regina's hand. She is shown to say: "And I killed my four children. Chin up boo". Regina manages a half smile. Prison wardens take them all back to their cells. Regina, lying on her bed, begins to reflect back on her time with her boyfriend (played by Ian Harding). In these flashbacks, the pair are shown to be laughing and having fun on several dates, making love in a motel, kissing in the rain while numerous cars beep them off the road and apartment hunting in a typical North American metropolis. During one flashback, Regina is sitting by a kitchen table alone as a phone vibrates. Regina reaches over and reads the text message that was received and her face drops. Her boyfriend comes in and she begins shouting and screaming and pointing at the message on the phone. He tries to defend himself but fails when Regina hits him with a flower vase, causing him to fall unconscious. She drags him into a bedroom where she manages to get him onto a bed. On the bedside is a picture of Regina and this man in a lovers embrace. She stares at the picture, tears rolling down her cheek. She then looks back at her injured lover on the bed and becomes angry once again. She trashes the entire bedroom before going outside and grabbing a container full of petrol. She douses the room and her boyfriend in petrol. The song cuts out as Regina lights a cigarette. She takes one drag before flicking it onto the bed, where her boyfriend lies. She runs out of the house as it begins to go up in flames. We see the picture by the bedside surrounded by flames and slowly burn. Regina snaps out of her flashbacks as the song ends. The camera focuses on her face and a smirk appears on her face. The screen goes to black and the following text appears: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned.