Textual Analysis 2

Textual Analysis 2

Breathe: Delilah

The music video which I will be analysing is called “Breathe” by the British singer/songwriter Paloma Stoecker known as ‘Delilah’ who is currently signed to Atlantic Records. Her first single ‘GO’ was officially released in September 2011 and her new first debut album ‘From the Roots Up’ was released this year in July. “Breathe” is the third single recorded by Delilah and was released on You Tube in April 2012 it was produced and written by Delilah herself and was able to be in the top 100 charts. Delilah style of music is under the genre of alternative pop, which is new and fresh to the music industry and recently in the last few years this genre of music has become very popular with the likes of Katy B and Alex Clare. The track “Breathe” falling under the genre of alternative pop has key elements of the genre pop such the use of a narrative in the music video however the alternative side makes the video emphasis its indie aspect for instance alternative could also consider it to be concept- base and other characteristics which would take away the pop part would be the bright colours and dancing etc…

The relationship between lyrics and visuals are generally illustrative, the visuals on screen explain the lyrics and illustrate them. For example in the chorus when the artist sings “I cannot breathe (yeah) Let me be free (yeah) from myself” the actress is showing emotion of distress and hiding behind the door whilst the  actors are trying to get into the apartment, illustrating that she wants to be free she’s not happy with the environment she is in. The visuals shown give the audience an idea to what the song is about; relating the visuals to the lyrics creates an explanation. Near to the end of the music video when the lyrics read “I must survive, this wonderful punishment called life” the woman actress packs her bags and leaves her boyfriend in the flat, which visually creates a moral of the story that life isn’t all great and the audience can relate to this.

The relationship between music and visuals compliment well together, the genre of alternative pop has some aspect of dub step which you can tell as the bass compliments the actions of the characters. The video does mainly stay the same pace all the way through, however, the tempo varies throughout the track so the music video in fact challenges Goodwin’s theory which is evident in the scene of the boyfriend and girlfriend, when they are arguing and fighting during the slow part in the track highlighting that the music is contrapuntal towards the visuals.

In this music video the artist Delilah is not in the narrative aspect she is between the scenes singing the lyrics of the song, therefore there are many close ups and medium shots of the artist herself showing the audience her emotion, representation and most importantly reflecting the words of the song from the lip syncing. The track “Breathe” was released in a digital download format on You tube hinting that the record company were looking to sell this track to a young/youthful target audience who are up to date with technology and have new interest of alternative pop. The image Delilah portrays in her music video is young, trendy and soulful which seems to be a motif that she uses throughout all her three singles released and perhaps that is the demand of her record label to show that stylish/ causal side so that the target audience can be influenced and relate to her music.

In this music video there is a lot of reference to the notion of looking, in a very stereotypical and traditional way. From the start of the music video the audience can make out that the woman is the object and she’s in a vulnerable way this is illustrated not just from the relationship between the music and visuals but also from the camerawork. The angle of the camera looking down on the woman from high angle shot shows that the male character is the dominant one and in the video the men are portrayed or seen as the ‘gangsters’ which are causing trouble with the female character for example in one scene the male characters are looking through the window and then the screen shows her in binoculars as if that’s what the male characters can see. What’s more, the close ups on the woman actress emphasises her distress emotion and how she is feeling. However there is no intertextual reference in this music video, it doesn’t relate to other music videos but could relate to real life issues and the problems people face on a normal basis. The moral of the music video is that if you’re in an abusive relationship you can walk out and you don’t have to keep living in that way. Furthermore, this music video is mainly narrative-based as explained above; there is a story being told throughout the course the mise en scene of natural lighting and realistic location gives the audience an idea of what the lyrics really mean. For example one of the first scenes in the music video is in a flat- portraying a realistic feel to the narrative that this can happen on a daily basis. Not only does the mise en scene add to the effect of the alternative pop music video but also the editing it has continuous slow motion transitions and darkened colour correction highlighting the mood of the song  and visuals.

In conclusion, after analysing the music video “breathe” it is evident to say what the key characteristics are and how the genre is illustrated through the relationship of music and lyrics, relationship of music and visuals, how the artist is represented, notions of looking and what type of music video it actually is.