Synopsis

Macy Gray wakes in a hotel room and sets out into the city with a bouquet of flowers. She rides public transportation through New York, moving through crowded streets and everyday spaces while carrying the nervous energy of someone heading toward an important reunion. Her destination is a man waiting in a park. The simple journey gives the song's romantic uncertainty a grounded, almost documentary feel, with Gray's anticipation building as she gets closer to him.

Factoids & Trivia

• This is the lesser-known first version of "I Try," generally described as an alternate or unreleased video. The more widely circulated version is cataloged separately as version 2.

• The video's use of hotel interiors, buses, trains, and street locations gives the song a spontaneous urban quality rather than presenting Gray in a conventional performance setting.

• The storyline follows the song's emotional premise closely: Gray appears determined to meet someone she cannot quite move on from, despite trying to keep her composure.

• The main version of the video became one of Gray's signature visual pieces. It won Best New Artist in a Video at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards and was nominated for Best Female Video.

• "I Try" was Gray's breakthrough single from her 1999 debut album, On How Life Is. The song later won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and received nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.