lyric analysis - miss miller

Lyric Analysis

The song we choose to create our music video to is Adele 'Hometown glory' therefore the song lyrics we analysed were hometown glory. The purpose in analysing the songs lyrics is so that we can get an understanding of the connotations that the song has. This is sometimes called reading between the lines, which means looking deeper than what the song just says on the surface, and finding the hidden meanings and messages. By finding the deeper meanings behind the song it can help our group in constructing our narrative effectively to relate to how the artist is portraying herself through the lyrics. By having an understanding of what the lyrics mean, as a group we can then plan ahead to incorporate certain aspects into our music video, in order to make the music video understandable and engaging for the audience.


Firstly as a group we colour coded the lyrics for different aspects that we was looking for within the song. We highlighted with yellow where there was hidden meanings or messages. We then highlighted in blue for any lyrics that represented the artist. Orange highlights were to show ideas for mes en scene and style of music video, Finally green which was to show target audience relationship.


Firstly we decided to highlight everything that we thought had a hidden meaning in yellow. The first line was 'Ive been walking in the same way as I did'  This connotes that she has not grown up or changed since a young age. Which therefore tells the audience that she wants to return to her childhood.  Another example of a hidden message is on line three when the lyrics say: 'And tutting my heels and strutting my feet' This portrays that the artist has had struggles and difficulties in her life so far. Therefore from the first to examples we can get an understanding that the hidden message behind the whole song is, that she wants to return to her childhood lifestyle, where she was surrounded  by friends and family. This helps the audience to get an understanding of how the artist feels trapped in the busy lifestyle in the music industry, and how the artist does not get time to return to her family home. Therefore creating a large amount of sympathy for the artist as she is portrayed as lonely and run down, through the use of the hidden messages.





Our annotations will clearly helps us when planning our genres codes and conventions. Our music video is a soul genre music video therefore the first code and convention that we can plan to incorporate into the music video is the insecurity of the artist. Insecurity is conventionally to the soul genre, because artists within the genre are typically seen to be upset, down, worried and overall insecure. From the lyric analysis we can get an understanding of how to portray our codes and conventions through the music video. Firstly we are going to include shots which match the lyrics literally. On the second line where is says ' missing out the cracks in the pavement' as a group we decided to film a shot of cracks in a London pavement. This will allow the audience to try and think about the bidding meaning and how it is effecting the artist. Therefore by annotating the lyrics we are clearly coming up with codes and conventions that will be effective and engaging in our soul genre music video.
Secondly the next code and convention that we plan to incorporate into our music video is, how controversial the world has become. Controversial is related to arguments, disagreements and seen to be negative which is stereotypical in a soul genre music video. The lyric analysis helped me in identifying this code and convention. From line 20 where is says 'Everybody taking different sides' as an audience we can get an understanding that the artist is trying to express how everybody has different opinions. And the use of using the word 'sides' also highlights how these different opinions usually go against each other and cause anger and depression for the artist. The audience can then build up a relationship with the artist because the target audience is likely to have gone through something controversial in their life. Therefore the audience can connect better and relate to the artist as they have more understanding the artist true feelings towards a well known hated topic, controversial.
Thirdly another code and convention that has been addressed by analysing the lyrics is, how negative and repetitive her lifestyle is in the music industry. This is a typical and conventional aspect of a soul genre music video. The artist is portrayed as being lonely and run down from how repetitive and fast paced her life has become. From the last verse you can see how many times 'Are the wonders of my world' is repeated. This to emphasis how repetitive her life has become and how it has made the artist lonely and negative about life. Therefore the audience can grasp an understanding of what it must be like to be an artist in the music industry, and how behind all the fame and wealth, life can be very difficult and depressing for the artist. This makes the audience feel sympathy towards the artist. For some of the target audience that also have a busy lifestyle, who have minimal spare time to spend with friends and family, the artist becomes relatable for them and therefore causing the song to be very engaging and effectively relatable for the target audience.



From analysing the lyrics of the song it has also helped us in planning our cinematography from the music video itself. We have planned certain shots that may be effective in engaging the audience with the emotions of the artist, at certain stages of the song, when the lyrics are very meaningful and effective.
Firstly we have planned to incorporate panning shots of the artist having fun and laughing with her friends. This was due to the lyrics that state "memories are fresh" this tells the audience that the artist can clearly remember previous good times that she has had. Also by mentioning her memories the audience can get an understanding of how they have become memories and no longer exist in her present life. This makes it hard for the artist to live happily without having any laughs and fun with friends. The panning shot was planned to be overlapping a shot of the artist playing the piano, so the audience can get an understanding of how the artist reflects on her past when playing the piano. This is engaging and effective in showing the artist true emotions when we have panning shots of her memories, and the close ups of the artist on the piano.
Secondly the cinematography that we also plan to include is a high angle shot to make the artist look vulnerable and weak. This is stereotypical of the soul music genre, because the artists are known to be run down and upset, therefore highlighting that the artist is vulnerable, the audience can build a relationship and start to understand why she is feeling weak and down. We planned to use a high angle shot of the artist leaving a phone box after not being able to contact a friend or family, and then walking back into the busy lifestyle of London. This shot was inspired by line four where the lyrics say "Is there anyone I could call" these lyrics show to the audience that she is finding it hard to contact someone who will be there for her.



Also due to analysing the lyrics it has also helped our group in deciding the correct and effective editing styles to include in the music video. Throughout all the lyrics the hidden meanings and messages portray how the artist is reflecting on her past. Therefore we have planned to incorporate the use of a black and white filter. We feel the black and white filter will be effective in showing to the audience that she is looking back on her past. The white part of the filter represents the artist past and how she use to be happy and innocent, and the black portrays how her present is now depressing compared to her past. "memories are fresh" this phrase effectively shows to the audience about how she can clearly remember her past. This suggests to the audience that the change in her life from the past times to now, has been negative and made the artist feel sad and out of control of her own life.
Another editing style we plan to include is fast paced editing, this is unconventional to the soul genre as it does not allow for the audience to connect and see the artist emotions. We have planned to use this because of the build up before the chorus "shows that we ain't gonna take it, Shows that we ain't gonna stand shit. Shows that we are united" we thought the use of fast paced editing will effective show how the artist is getting worked up and becoming angry at the lifestyle she is living in. Therefore by using a fast paced editing the audience can get an understanding how how the artist is becoming sick and tired of her life at present, and the build up of fast paced shots to then go back to normal pace as she sings the chorus, emphasis how much the artist misses home and how she would love to return to her hometown. This allows the audience to connect and build up a relationship with the artist because she is showing her true inner feelings.



Mes en scene is also a very important aspect of a music video and by analysing the lyrics we have come up with the different mes en scene aspects that we plan to include. Firstly the setting and iconography was discussed and planned when the lyrics state "I like the city where the air is so thick and opaque" this straight away suggests to the group that we should film some shots in London city location. Therefore the majority of the setting will be London. Therefore this will be effecting in engaging with the audience because it is a familiar and well known setting, that the audience will be able to relate, as they have an understanding of what life is like in London. Also the only iconography we really plan on using is the use of the microphone. This has been due to when we film an on stage shot of the artist the microphone will be essential in ensuring the artist looks professional. The audience can look up and idolise the artist knowing that she has made it successful as a music artist. This therefore improves the artist image and liveability.
The second aspect of the mes en scene we have planned to incorporate due to analysing the song lyrics is; lighting. From the lyrics "I've been walking in the same way" we have planned to use low key lighting this is because the lyrics suggest that the artist is depressed and the low key lighting will be able to emphasis that the artist is not enjoying life at the moment. This will lead to the audience feeling sympathetic towards the artist. Another lighting we have planned to include is high key lighting, this was inspired from the lyrics "memories are fresh" the use of high key lighting will also emphasis how the memories were a good part of her life, which will lead to the audience getting a better understanding of how much the artist misses her previous life.
Thirdly the positioning of characters have been planned due to the lyric analysis. Where the lyrics say "shows that we ain't gonna stand shit" the artist is going to be sitting down playing the piano. This show to the audience that the artist is thinking of ways to overcome her difficulties. Due to the artist sitting down it shows to the audience that she has had enough of the busy lifestyle, she now wants to sit down and take a break. The audience can get an understanding of the artist emotions and how she feels towards her present life. Which therefore makes the song more effective and engaging and overall more understanding for the audience.
Fourthly the costume hair and make up has being inspired to be casual and normal until the artist is up on stage singing the chorus. At this point the artist is going to look glamorous with exotic hair and make up and a black dress. The words "hometown" inspired the costume in the chorus. The reason for the artist being dressed up, is because this is what the artist wants the most. To be back in her hometown, so the artist dresses up and looks professional to show how much she is trying. The audience can build up a relationship with the artist, this is because they can see how much effort she is going to. This makes the artist an icon and role model for her efforts, and leads to her like ability increasing, due to her professionalism and realism.
Finally the last aspect of mes en scene is facial expressions and body language, the lyrics : "I've been walking in the same way as I did, missing out the cracks" have inspired my group to make sure that the artist emotions and pain are conveyed through facial expression and body language. The body language that we plan to include will be quite slouched to show how tired to artist is. Also the facial expressions will be emphasising how emotionally drained the artist has become due to "walking in the same way" this part of the lyrics especially emphasised how the artist life has become repetitive. The audience can build up there understanding of how much this song means to the artist, through her emotions and feelings being portrayed through facial expressions and the tired body language the artist will use.


The style of music video that will plan on creating is a narrative based music video, with some performance elements. We thought that with all the hidden meanings through out the music video, it would become a very difficult song to understand without portraying the story through the music video. The part of the song "I like it in the city when two worlds collide" To show to the audience what this part of the song means and how it has effected the artist. The best way to show this to the audience would be convey a narrative style music video. The performance aspect of the music video was inspired just by the chorus to show the artist is professional. The makes the audience look up to the artist and idolise her as a true role model.  The artist and audience can then build a relationship due to the relatable locations, for example London. This makes the artist relatable because the audience can recognise and familiarise themselves with the surroundings. Also due to the mes en scene and editing styles to portray the artist emotions and feeling the audience can build up and understand how the artist is feeling which leads to the audience becoming more engaged and aware of the what the song means.


In conclusion analysing the lyrics have benefited by group in having an understanding of what to include in the music video. By looking deeper into the lyrics I have a much better understanding of what the song actually means, which will lead our music video being effectively in being conventional to the song itself. Also the lyrics have given us timings of when and where to include certain shots so, has meant that planning our actually music video a lot easier. Overall this task has improved the groups awareness and ideas of what to include and how to include it in our music video.