Textual Analysis of Music Videos

Name of track: 
Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?

Artist: 
Arctic Monkeys



Genre Characteristics: 
Alternative/Indie rock, drug abuse, relationships issues, grunge, pubs, leather jackets, etc.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals:
The video focuses on the vocalist of the band, Alex Turner, who embarks on a night-out in which he gets wasted and decides to hook up with a girl he knows, "Now it's 3 in the morning and I'm trying to change your mind." He begins to hallucinate and imagines a number of different sexual situations are happening around him, illustrating his intentions. This is shown through the shakiness of the camera and blurring of shots (the sinking of the ground as he lays down).  During the song, the pair communicate via mobile phone, "Left you multiple missed calls and to my message you replied: Why'd you only call me when you're high?", and so Alex is seen messaging 'Stephanie' throughout the video.

Relationship between music and visuals:
The relatively slow tempo of the song is mirrored by the slow pace of the editing.

Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs? 
There are several close-ups of the band's vocalist throughout the video.

Is there reference to the notion of looking? 
'Stephanie' is used in all of the sexual situations and once appears naked on the back of a motorcycle. Alex is shown trying to embark on a one night stand with her.

Are there intertextual references? 
Not that I am aware of.

Is the video performance, narrative or concept based? 
Narrative. The video shows the band in the 'Howl at the Moon' pub in East London, having a drink. Wasted, Alex (the vocalist) sends multiple text messages to a girl called Stephanie to get a booty call, without any answer. When he leaves the pub, he walks through the city and hallucinates. Eventually he gets to the wrong house, across the street from Stephanie's, and stands outside the door. The camera shows the girl at her home, picking up the phone and deciding to ignore his texts.

Music Video: General Theory

• Lyrics establish a general feeling/mood/sense of subject rather than a meaning. Meaning is presented more through visuals.
• Tempo of music drives the editing.
• Genre might be reflected in types of mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles.
• Camerawork impacts meaning. Movement, angle and shot distance all play a part in the representation of the artist/band (close-ups dominate).
• Editing is done in fast cuts, rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on first viewing, so ensuring multiple viewing.
• Digital effects often enhance editing, which manipulates the original images to offer different kinds of pleasure for the audience.
• Intertextuality is often present. Intertextuality is the shaping of a texts' meanings by other texts. Not all audiences will spot a reference to another text, which would not significantly detract from their pleasure in the text itself, but greater pleasure might be derived by those who recognise the reference and gain a sense of fulfilment by this. It also increases the audience's engagement with, and attentiveness, to the product. Many music videos draw upon cinema. Some examples are: Madonna's "Material Girl" drew on the song sequence "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in Howard Hawk's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". 2Pac and Dr Dre's "California Love", which referenced George Miller's "Mad Max Exhibitionism" is often present. 
• Exhibitionism is the psychological need and pattern of behaviour involving the exposure of parts of the body to another person with a tendency toward an extravagant, usually at least partially sexually inspired behaviour to attract the attention of another in an open display. The apparently more powerful independent female artists of recent years have added to the complexity of the politics of looking and gender/cultural debates, by being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control of, and inviting, a sexualised gaze.

Music Video Introduction

VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR Music Video Introduction 2013.docx