- The music video for "She Will Be Loved" shows a young man who falls in love with the socialite mother of his girlfriend. The mother is not receiving love from her husband and turns to Levine for comfort after he discovers she's beaten unconscious by her spouse.
- The video starts with Levine standing in front of a swimming pool. As he's about to dive in, flashbacks appear: a young woman swimming in a pool, Levine and the young woman sharing a kiss, Levine comforting another woman who appears to be in distress, the older woman hiding alone in her car, and the older woman embracing the young man. Levine dives into the pool, completely unaware of what's to happen to him in falling in love that summer. Flashbacks show the two women walking side by side in the city as Levine watches them from his car and all three protagonists are face to face, hinting at events that will ensue.
At the start, the young man and his girlfriend visit her home and dive into a swimming pool kissing. After they resurface from swimming, the young man looks to his girlfriend as she's being cared for by another woman who is revealed to be his girlfriend's mother. The mother helps her daughter dry up from swimming and glances in the young man's direction. As the young couple relax at her parent's social gathering, everyone, except the young man, is oblivious to the reality that not everything is right in the mother's relationship with the much older man.
One night while walking down the stairs, the young man discovers his girlfriend's mother lying unconscious in the room. He goes to revive her and sees that she's been abused by someone, judging by the red lipstick smeared across her face. The mother awakens and kisses Levine, who returns her affections. Flashbacks reveal that the mother was beaten by her husband earlier.
After the kiss, the young man appears to become obsessed, parking his car outside a building one day to watch the mother and his girlfriend go shopping together. Seeing how they're laughing and having a great time. The mother also appears to become obsessed, parking her car outside the young couple's house one night to watch him. After a brief discussion with his girlfriend, Levine sees the mother is outside watching him from her car and she waves at him. When Levine and his band Maroon 5 perform "She Will Be Loved" during a concert at the bar lounge, his girlfriend watches from the crowd. However, Levine sees the mother looking back at him instead of his girlfriend. When the young couple dance together, Levine fantasizes about the mother, imagining he is caressing her instead of his girlfriend. Later that night, the mother is found to be in the exact same bar wearing a red dress. As she watches him, Levine looks at the mother, then looks at his girlfriend smiling at him and ponders about the complicated situation.
At the end of the video, after having still gained no romantic attention from her husband and seeing the young couple happy together, the mother grows frustrated and overcome with emotion. She walks away crying. Levine follows after her to console her and they embrace, nearly kissing until his girlfriend catches them. It's revealed that the titular "girl with the broken smile" is not the mother despite her being a victim of domestic abuse but rather his girlfriend who catches her boyfriend and her mother together and is left confused, heartbroken and betrayed. Flashbacks further reveal that the daughter actually walked down into the basement and caught her boyfriend and her mother kissing the first time.
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