Lyrics
Something's tearing me down
And down
Can't help but feel it's coming from you
She's a gunshot bride
With a trigger cries
I just wonder what we've gotten ourselves into
In a trail of fire I know we will be free again
In the end we will be one
In a trail of fire I'll burn before you bury me
Set your sights for the sun
Mind is willing
Soul remains
This woman cannot be saved
From the drawn into the fire
Mind is willing
Soul remains
This woman cannot be saved
From the drawn into the fire
Any danger
Bring it on home (x4)
Much to weak to jump yourself
Heal the wounds or crack the shell
Lift yourself from once below
Much to weak to jump yourself
Heal the wounds or crack the shell
Lift yourself from once below
Praise the anger
Bring it on home (x4)
In a trail of fire I know we will be free gaain
In the end we will be one
In a trail of fire I'll burn before you bury me
Set your sights for the sun
Bring it home
Genre characteristics
Pendulum are an Australian band who formed in 2002. Their genre is a bit difficult to pin point as people have varied opinions on what it comes under, but it is generally considered to be drum and bass/electric rock. This track was their first UK top 10 single, peaking at number nine in the charts. The video shows a few scenes of the band playing nearer the beginning, but mainly it depicts a story, focusing on two main characters in particular, as they flee a bizarre cult suicide.
It is very typical of dance music and drum and bass to not feature much, if anything, of the artist(s) in the video, instead there is normally a dramatic story depicted, often there is some sort of fast paced chase happening, or images are used to match the pace of the beat, generally the video is made in a way where it aids the music in 'pumping up' the viewer/listener as that is the mood of that particular type of music. Rock music videos vary a bit more, but usually the band/artist is seen performing in the video and there is some sort of separate story going on.
What we see in this video is a combination of characteristics from both the dance music genre and the rock music genre, although leaning more towards the characteristics of a dance music video with the story taking up more screen time than the band, this makes perfect sense though as the bands music is these two genres entwined but they do fit more easily under the dance/drum and bass title.
Technical aspects of the video
Cinematography, editing, and mise en scene are all used to present the story to the viewer and create a certain atmosphere to the video, ultimately adding to the bands image. The use of things such as the handheld camera, dark costumes, low key lighting, the 'scary' setting, lots of different shot types including low angles and close ups, using very shallow focus so that nothing in the shot is clear, and the heavy use of cuts, during the running sequence especially, make it quite an energetic, dark video.
The star image
This goes well with the bands image as their music is energetic and kind of heavy. They are shown not too far into the video, when the music suddenly goes from calm to loud, with the 'drop' of the music images are shown of the band playing their instruments, but within the story, they are inside the shack where the main part of the narrative takes place, they are involved. Seeing them play their own instruments and performing even for a short while establishes the band and shows off their skills, it also allows the audience/fans to get closer to them, however by them not having much screen time it shows that it's the music that is important, it means more to the band than their own fame, a lot of people who are into music, this type especially, appreciate that outlook and so this video appeals to them a lot.
Relation of visuals to the music
In terms of genre and mise en scene, the music fits pretty well to the visuals, the lack of colour suits well, if the video was really bright and vibrant it would really contrast with the music style. The length of each of the shots becomes shorter or longer according to the pace of the music at the time, for example there are lots of short shots of characters being 'healed' when the music is quicker, this means that the speed of the images visually matches the musics speed.
Relation of visuals to the lyrics
The lyrics to the song are reasonably odd, they make sense to a certain extent but it isn't completely clear what the meaning of them is. In the video, during the first half, different characters say different lines on the lyrics and in that respect they make sense, for example the main guy who is quite uncertain about this event they are all attending mimes the line 'I just wonder what we've gotten ourselves into'. So in this way the lyrics relate to the visuals a lot, but overall I'd say they only loosely relate to what's going on, they're not really specific enough to be linked to anything.
Notion of looking
The eye line of the characters within the story are matched, but no-ones eye lines are matched to the camera directly, this shows that the audience are not being addressed but are just watching the story unfold.
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