“How fast they grow,” “It’s over in a flash,” and “blink and you'll miss it,” are all descriptions of children growing up that most parents can relate to. However, Michael Bublé’s heart-wrenching, bittersweet message to his own kids, “Forever Now,” has most reaching for the tissues.
Whether viewers are parents themselves or not, the touching music video and emotive imagery of a spare room becoming a baby’s nursery and then gradually changing bespeaks of how fast children really grow.
The couple’s son had liver cancer; Bublé and his wife immediately took time out from their careers to care for their little boy. “We have always been very vocal about the importance of family and the love we have for our children,” they explained.
“I went to Disneyland with my kids,” Bublé continued, “and how many people walked up to me and put their hand on [me] and said, ‘We prayed for you?’ It was sad,” he said, “because you have to relive a lot of stuff, but at the same time it gave me faith in humanity and the goodness of people.”
The video, which has over 6 million views and counting, shows a time-lapse scene of a child’s bedroom. The room begins empty but for a stack of cardboard boxes. Gradually, it fills with nursery paraphernalia.
As the video continues, the bedroom changes. The crib is swapped out for an adult-sized bed, sporting equipment appears and disappears, a desk arrives, followed by a TV and beanbag, and a perennially unemptied laundry basket.
The end of the video heralds another change; the room slowly empties and the cardboard boxes reappear. Perhaps the child, never shown, is heading out into the big, wide world.
The final scene of the touching video implies a new beginning. The nursery configuration returns, this time with a crib, wall color, and decorations in soothing pink.
“Right in the feels. Great song,” wrote one viewer. “Now excuse me while I go give my kid a hug and never let go.”
“Wish every child in the world could feel that this song was written for them,” added another. It’s lyrics such as, “No matter what you do / I’m forever proud of you / I'll love you forever now,” that give this song the touching sentiment.