Lyric Analysis - Summertime Sadness

Lyric Analysis

     Lana Del Rey - Summertime Sadness

Kiss me hard before you go
Summertime sadness
I just wanted you to know
That baby you're the best

I got my red dress on tonight

Dancing in the dark in the pale moonlight

Got my hair up real big beauty queen style

High heels off, I'm feeling alive

Oh, my God, I feel it in the air

Telephone wires above all sizzlin' like your stare

Honey I'm on fire I feel it everywhere

Nothing scares me anymore

Kiss me hard before you go

Summertime sadness

I just wanted you to know

That baby you're the best

I've got that summertime, summertime sadness

Summertime, summertime sadness

Got that summertime, summertime sadness

Oh, oh

I'm feelin' electric tonight

Cruising down the coast goin' 'bout 99

Got my bad baby by my heavenly side

Oh if I go, I'll die happy tonight

Oh, my God, I feel it in the air

Telephone wires above all sizzlin' like your stare

Honey I'm on fire I feel it everywhere

Nothing scares me anymore

Kiss me hard before you go

Summertime sadness

I just wanted you to know

That baby you're the best

I've got that summertime, summertime sadness

Summertime, summertime sadness

Got that summertime, summertime sadness

Oh, oh

I think I'll miss you forever

Like the stars miss the sun in the morning skies

Late is better than never

Even if you're gone I'm gonna drive, drive

I've got that summertime, summertime sadness

Summertime, summertime sadness

Got that summertime, summertime sadness

Oh, oh

Kiss me hard before you go

Summertime sadness

I just wanted you to know

That baby you're the best

I've got that summertime, summertime sadness

Summertime, summertime sadness

Got that summertime, summertime sadness

Oh, oh

This song seems to be about a woman missing her lover after they have had to leave. It is quite sad and heartfelt.

These are memories. Could be great to use montage here

The use of summertime and sadness lead to a huge juxtaposition, usually summer would be based on happiness but in this sense we think of sadness. With this we could use some happ memories that lead to a sad person here and now

Here we see a time comparison. We start off with a sense of struggle which is later interpreted as a release and an image of letting go is displayed

Lyric Analysis - Missing You

Lyric Analysis

     Crystal Brain - Missing You

I'm out missing you, no matter what you say
I'll hold onto you.
You always make it right when it should be so wrong
How could I ever let go?

So go on and on play
I'm waiting here for you
Just remember my name
That's all I ask you do
Yeah
Go with that pretty girl
There's nothing here for you

I'm out missing you, no matter what you say
I'll hold onto you.
You always make it right when it should be so wrong
How could I ever let go?

How could you let me go?

I never ask for more
I listened name it all
You went behind my back
Taking everything I had
Yeah
Now leave me, it's okay
You've people here for you

I'm out missing you, no matter what you say
I'll hold onto you
Just remember my name
That's all I ask you do
Yeah
Go with that pretty girl (that pretty girl)
Least someone's here for you
How could I ever let go?
I won't ever let go
How could you let me go?
I guess I'm letting go

This song seems to be about a cheating partner who the singer still loves. The singer seems to still be waiting for the cheater and wondering what went wrong.

Repetition. Here's a lot of repetition of "you" and "go". These two words bring emphasis on the loss of a person. (We know it isn't death based because we have the other person being with another woman.) If we put the two words together they say "you go" which is not only a direct order but we feel like the message of a broken relationship is continuously being pushed through and we're constantly being reminded of this. - I think the use of montage and modern clips could show these stages clearly. Luckily our genre usually does this anyway so it would be a good technique to use

This show that someone finds a positive to each negative someone has in the relationship. We gradually see that these points lead to some kind of self-faith even through their loss of hope. - From this we could show a montage based around a happy and strong relationship

These are all questions. They're the same one's repeated and from this we get a sense of desperation. - Close ups would be good for some of these moments to capture an emotional scene

All of these are demands but when reading them we can see they're struggling. They are direct but they are made to emphasis the pain they feel so we can attempt to empathise. - Our music video could include the illustration of someone physically saying some of these thing or even acting the notion of them out

Lyric Analysis - The Way It Was

Lyric Analysis

     The Killers - The Way It Was

I drove through the desert last night
I carried the weight of our last fight
Elvis singing "don't be cruel"
And I wonder if you feel it too
It's like we're going under

Somewhere outside the lonely Esmeralda county line
The question of my heart came to my mind

If I go on
With you by my side
Can it be
The way it was
When we met
Did you forget all about those golden nights?

Maybe a thief stole your heart
Or maybe we just drifted apart
I remember driving
In my daddy's car to the airfield
Blanket on the hood, backs against the windshield
Back then this thing was running on momentum, love and trust
That paradise is buried in the dust

[CHORUS]

All of our plans have fallen through
Sometimes a dream, it don't come true

Darling!
Darling!

If we go on
Can it be
The way it was
When we met
Did you forget all about them golden nights?

If I go on
With you by my side
Can it be
The way it was
My heart is true
Girl, it's just you
I'm thinking of
Can it be the way it was?
Maybe a thief stole your heart

The song is about a love that seems to be failing. It is directed to the person  they love, and seems to be talking to them about their thoughts, feelings and fears.

Lyrics about the recent past - the singer mentions what they've been doing and introduces the song

Lyrics of about a lost or failing love - the singer seems unhappy, and seems to be having a bad relationship

Lyrics about questioning that love - the singer wonders what will happen and whether their love is still there

Lyrics about memories - most of the second verse revolves around the singer remembering the past, and what their relationship was like at the start

Lyrics about love - at the end of the last chorus, the singer reveals that he still has feelings for this girl and still loves her

Indie-pop Moodboard

Indie-pop Moodboard

Since we are considering making an indie-pop music video, we created a moodboard representing the indie-pop genre. We used screencaps from music videos of famous indie-pop artists, such as Lana Del Rey and the Arctic Monkeys, and used a few album covers as we felt these represented the genre well. From this, we have noticed that common themes in indie-pop music videos are vintage-looking footage and artsy elements. The videos are often quite happy and pleasant, and do not always have high production values, which would be a positive if we decide to go along with this genre.

Music Video Conventions

Music Video Conventions

In order to start thinking about what genre to choose, I decided to look into conventions of 5 different genres to think about which I would enjoy doing. I decided to look into rock, alternative, pop, grunge and indie, as these are genres I would be interested in looking into.

   Rock

EXAMPLE: The Pretender - Foo Fighters

Rock is often set in a large building, like a warehouse, or in music venues. This is largely due to the fact that most rock videos are based around performance with the band playing their song. There are some rock videos that do include amplification, and these vary depending on the message of the song. The iconography of rock is mainly to do with the performance, and therefore is mainly musical instruments (especially electric guitars and drums) and people screaming into microphones. The performance is also very emotionally charged, with the artists giving their all to portray the feelings their songs are trying to create. The videos are often quite dark and angry, often including themes of violence associated with this angry feeling.

   Alternative

EXAMPLE: Black Chandelier - Biffy Clyro

Alternative music, similarly to rock, is often set in a city location, and often uses large empty spaces like warehouses. The videos often contain performance, generally of the band singing their songs. They often intertwine this performance into amplification narratives, often revolving around love or loss. There are also some videos which are purely performance and some that use disjuncture, but a combination of amplification and performance is most common. The iconography of alternative tends to be similar to rock, with electric guitars and drums, e.t.c. There are also sometimes themes of fire or destruction, quite often with the instruments themselves getting destroyed. The videos tend to be fairly dark and emotionally charged, creating feelings of sadness or anger in the viewer.

   Pop

EXAMPLE: Blank Space - Taylor Swift

As pop is quite a varied genre there are few common settings. However, the videos all tend to have high production values, with smart sets, elaborate costumes and detailed mise en scene. The videos are often amplification based around the song, which often involves a relationship between a man and a woman. Performance is also often used in the video of the artist singing. The videos tend to be brighter and more colourful, although it depends largely on the mood of the song. However, the videos are rarely dark or gritty, reflecting the wide viewership that pop appeals to. Due to the variation within the genre there is little iconography, although themes of love are very common.

   Grunge

EXAMPLE: Lithium - Nirvana

Grunge videos are often set in music venues as well, and often involve them playing to a crowd. These videos are often performance based, although there are also some that include amplification or disjuncture. No matter what the narrative of the video is, the videos are always dark, gritty and dirty, focussing on the raw emotions of human life. The iconography is similar to rock and alternative in that it is based around the performance, with guitars, drums and singing being the main images. The videos often have a cheap quality to them, reflecting the ideology of the movement. the videos often elicit feelings of anger, hurt or sadness, which is mainly portrayed by the emotion in the artists' faces.

   Indie

EXAMPLE: This Charming Man - The Smiths

Indie music tends to be quite varied depending on the style and popularity of the artists. As the genre, like pop, is so wide, it is hard to find a setting. However, there are many indie videos that are set in warehouses or music venues where the artists can be seen performing, and many are also set in big cities. Videos in this genre also vary hugely in terms of narrative, with some focussing purely on performance from the band, some using amplification, which often revolves around the theme of love, and others being totally weird and using disjuncture. Once again there is little common iconography, but it can be argued that musical instruments, such as guitars, would count. The overall atmosphere of the videos are also varied, but they all try to present some sort of emotion, although this tends to be less intense than rock or grunge.

Essay on Gender Representation in a Music Video

Essay on Gender Representation in a Music Video

Discuss the ways in which a music video of your choice (Madonna - Express Yourself) constructs the representation of gender by using technical aspects.

In Madonna's music video for 'Express Yourself', gender is represented in various ways. The music video shows a male industrial worker searching for a female (Madonna) who seems to be romantically involved with his rich male boss. During the music video, both females and males are sexually objectified, although females more so than males. This occurs mainly through camera work, editing and mise en scene, as the only sound used is the song itself. The 'male gaze' can be found often in this music video, which is ironic because at the very start of the song Madonna addresses 'girls' specifically.

At the beginning of the music video, editing and camera work is used to objectify and stereotype men. The beginning of the music video is set in an industrial work-place, where strong and muscular men are seen working. A succession of quick cuts objectifies the men as the shots all show close-ups of parts of the men's bodies, with only one of their faces shown in the whole sequence. For example, at the beginning the camera moves up a man's chest, focusing on his muscles and cutting off before we see his face. This takes away from the personas of these men and turns them into sexual objects. This idea is amplified by the number of men in this sequence as all of them are being shown this way. As well as this, the men are also being stereotyped as they are all strong and doing heavy manual labor, which is a stereotype of men. The objectification seen in this sequence is the opposite of Mulvey's male gaze theory as it is making the viewer look at the men in a way that sexualises them. Therefore, this music video objectifies men.

A short while after this sequence, camera shots are used to show females as being powerful. A low-angle shot shows Madonna in an expensive dress holding a black cat. Her clothing and cat make her seem rich, whilst the low-angle shot shows her as powerful and important, thus portraying females that way. A few seconds later, editing is used in the form of an eyeline match to make Madonna seem more powerful than the men. A long shot of her looking out of a window in her high apartment room is followed by a high-angle shot of the men exercising in the yard beneath her. As well as making Madonna seem powerful, it also objectifies the men as it seems that she is watching them for her own pleasure, and cares about their bodies more than their personality. This further goes against the male gaze as the shot is more likely to appeal to females than males.

However, although the video so far seems to defy the conventions of the male gaze and female objectification, as the video continues this begins to slowly disintegrate. This starts at about 1:26, with a mid/long shot of Madonna in some lingerie. This is clearly designed to appeal more to the male population than the female, and introduces the male gaze for the first time. This idea is furthered by various long shots of Madonna's shadow against a screen, which is warped into the 'perfect' image of the female body, with large breasts and a tiny waist. This camera work and mise en scene objectifies Madonna and introduces the male gaze into the music video. However, in the next scene, the mise en scene creates somewhat of a mixed message. Her lingerie has been swapped for a black suit and eyepiece, and she seems powerful as she dances at the top of some steps whilst some men toil away beneath her. However, this powerful image is slightly broken by brief flashes of her bra as she opens her jacket, causing the viewer to see it. These moments could be seen by some to be objectifying as the viewer sees her in a sexual way, but could also be a symbol of female power as she is the one choosing to show her bra, and she doesn't seem forced to be doing it. This is a confusing moment as one one hand she seems more powerful and in control, yet others may perceive it as objectifying and sexual. Therefore, mise en scene is used to both objectify and empower females.

Near the end, there is no doubts as to whether Madonna is being objectified or not. A long-shot is used in a sequence that shows her crawling under tables in a very seductive way. The shot shows her in profile, and her body is outlined against a red background, objectifying her and making the viewer see the video through the male gaze. The sequence ends with a close-up of Madonna licking milk out of a bowl like a cat, making her seem like a pet or a possession, but definitely not like a real person. Her personality is removed and she is seen to just be a sexual object as the viewer looks at her through the male gaze.

In conclusion, the video objectifies both males and females, with males being objectified at the beginning, and females during the middle and end. This is mostly done through camera work, editing and mise en scene, as the only sound is the non-diegetic song playing over the video which Madonna sometimes lip-syncs to. The video is half shown through the male gaze and half through the opposite as both females and males are being objectified. This occurs despite the fact the Madonna addresses her song to girls at the very start of the music video.