Blink 182 - I Miss You (Analysis)

Along with 'All The Small Things', this song is probably what made Blink 182 so famous and widely known. In my opinion, it is one of the most interesting music videos around, which is why it's amongst my favourites. The video features shots of the band playing, which is helpful in boosting their star status by making them recognisable to the audience. But the main factor of the video that interests me is the unusual, almost supernatural feel to it. It is based on the grounds of a scary looking mansion, which is the first shot we see when the music starts and the last when it stops. The next thing we see after this is a young, blonde woman. She is standing, and then begins to fade, taking on the composure of a ghost. This tells the audience straight away that the video is going to be based on strange, surreal things. The video is filmed in dim lighting which in some parts look black and white. This gives it the feeling of an old film, or silent movie. The clothes the band are dressed in takes this a step further. They're dressed in smart suits and the drummer is wearing braces. Also, the use of an old fashioned microphone adds to the old look of the video. The whole thing looks as though it was made in around the 50's, due to things like the shots of women dressed in clothes from that era.
During the first chorus, when they sing 'I miss you' for the first time, there is a shot of a woman walking out to a large pond on the mansion grounds, and drowning herself. This gives the audience the impression that the lyrics are about missing someone who has passed away. Just after this, whilst the words 'don't waste your time on me, you're already the voice inside my head' are being sung, we see the young woman who drowned herself, looking and acting like a ghost, implying that she could be haunting her lover, but that she doesn't need to because he won't forget about her just because shes dead.
Thrown into the equation are a couple of seemingly irrelevant subjects, such as a pair of women french kissing, spiders, a different woman crawling through the bushes in the garden, a Siamese cat, close ups of a random womans face, an Asian woman looking at numerous reflections of herself in a mirror and a crow.
These things all have an almost hallucinogenic or dream-like feeling to them. None of it is anything you would see from day to day - more like the kind of strange things you could expect to see in a Stephen King film.
Overall I think the video is successful as it isn't necessarily written in stone what the lyrics mean, and so people can interpret it in any way they like. Different people can get a different meaning from it, and we all see it in a slightly different light.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1tAYmMjLdY&ob=av2e

Paolo Nutini - New Shoes (Analysis)

The most noticeable thing about the New Shoes music video is that it features Paolo Nutini himself. This gives the reader a chance to see what he looks like, making him recognisable and therefore helping him to achieve a celebrity status. As this was his first music video to be released, it was a clever technique to use him in it as it almost acted as a way of introducing him to the public. Also,I like the idea that he is acting out his lyrics, which helps the viewer to understand their meaning and context.
Point of view shots aren't used, but because the lyrics are talking about a normal, uneventful day of his, it feels, in a way, like we are watching the video through his eyes. The camera shots that are used, however, are quite interesting and unusual. The camera is in front of Nutini throughout, so the audience sees him like a mirror image. A good example of this is when he looks in the fridge and the camera is effectively at the back of the camera, cleverly placed. Another time when this is particularly effective is when he is walking down the street.
It is unusual nowadays for a music video to be so literal. Most of the time, videos have hidden meanings or are just completely unrelated to the music. With this one, however, we literally see Nutini go through his day as he normally would, for example by doing things like opening the fridge to look for food, looking in his wardrobe and so on. This makes the audience feel involved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GAgm8sZ5mo

Comparing album covers - Busted and Fightstar.

Fightstar's target audience are probably aged between 15 and 30. This is shown by the colours that are used, which are calm, neutral and generally more mature than the primary colours, mainly red and blue, that are used in the Busted covers. This makes Busted seem less serious about music and possibly more about just having fun, which is an approach that would appeal to a younger demographic. The fact that the covers consist of artwork instead of pictures of the band implies that Fightstar are more focused on their music, and aren't using images of the band to increase their fame. Busted, on the other hand, include the band in all of their album covers, making it seem as though they want people to know their faces. The images used by Fightstar appear to have a lot more meaning to them, as though there was more thought put into it. Images such as a robot wearing a gas mask have a more adult theme to them.

Johnny Cash - Hurt (Nine Inch Nails cover)

There are a few distinct differences between the feelings created by the two videos. The original Nine Inch Nails version has a more sinister tone to it - almost as though the lyrics mean that the singer wants to intentionally hurt someone. In the Johnny Cash cover however, you get the impression that he has lived a full life that taught him a lot and shaped him as a person. He realises that his actions have sometimes been wrong, and indirectly hurt people close to him - almost as if he's warning people that if they get close to him they will end up being hurt. The general feeling of his video is that he is looking back on his life, and seeing where he went wrong and what he would have done differently if he had a chance to. But also, he accepts his mistakes and understands that he can't change the past. This is implied by the images of things such as a sign saying 'House of Cash Museum - Closed to the public' which, in a way, is symbolic of his life coming to an end. Cash knew he was nearing the end of his life, as he was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease, Shy-Drager syndrome, a form of Parkinson's. The diagnosis was later altered to autonomic neuropathy, associated with diabetes. He later suffered pneumonia, which damaged his lungs, and meant that he couldn't tour.
The imagery in the video has a certain level of spirituality, reflecting Cash's spiritual side, illustrated by his quote - "The spirit of June Carter overshadows me tonight with the love she had for me and the love I have for her. We connect somewhere between here and heaven. She came down for a short visit, I guess, from heaven to visit with me tonight to give me courage and inspiration like she always has." Another thing that shows his spiritual side is that Cash spoke of meeting his older brother, who died tragically in 1944, in heaven. Religious thoughts are implied through lyrics in the video such as "I wear this crown of thorns, upon my liar's chair". Although the lyrics weren't written by Johnny Cash himself, it is obvious that he is attaching his own meaning to them and making them apply to him. There is a definite air of regret in the video, which isn't present in the original version- where the singer from Nine Inch Nails implies the idea that if people got hurt by him, it was their own fault. This is shown by things such as the clips of films that he has been in, in the past, which also add a sense of finality. This implies that although he is regretful, he is looking back on the positive things that happened in his life instead of just focusing on the bad. When he sings "everyone I love, goes away in the end", the camera zooms in to a picture on the wall of his late wife, June Carter, showing his love for her. Also, when he is sat alone at the table, surrounded by champagne and food he seems lonely, and is looking away from the camera as though he has a lot on his mind, just before tipping an entire glass of red wine over the table.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvJKVKglIRs&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSWTgLvxPYc&feature=fvsr

Hurt lyrics

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here

What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way