What Music Means To Me

A Song From My Childhood
The Sugababes' Three album was the first album I bought with my own pocket money, and I loved it with all my heart. I (over)played it almost every day, literally sitting by the stereo listening to it. Million Different Ways was definitely my favourite on the album, and I remember choreographing a little dance routine to it. I sang and danced to the song alone, not really wanting to show anyone the routine.


A Song From My Early Teens
Justin Timberlake's What Goes Around... Comes Around, as well as some of his other songs (Lovestoned/ I Think She Knows) were particular favourites of mine because they broke the standard mould of the 3-4 minute song in mainstream music. Timberlake's songs were, and still are, significantly longer than the average song, and I liked the progression through different keys, music styles and melodies in his music.


A Song That I Like Now
Home by Philip Philips was used consistently in advertising promoting the Fierce Five, a group of Olympic gymnasts that I'm really inspired by and appreciative of. The lyrics tell the story of uncertainty and stepping on unfamiliar ground and not knowing where you are headed, but in the end, finding a place to call home somewhere else in the world, which is definitely relevant now that we have a lot of fairly intimidating changes to await. It's also a song that just really gives me the confidence to push forward and not hold back because I now recognise the importance of taking chances.

Music Video Track Research

As a group, we had already decided that we wanted to go for either a retro/ old-school theme or a cutesy, girly music video, and so I researched tracks that had this kind of theme, as well as artists that fitted the stereotype of the strong, independent girl. 

Here is my original track list:

Boyz - M.I.A

Knock ‘Em Out - Lily Allen

What I Wouldn’t Do - A Fine Frenzy

Blow Away - A Fine Frenzy

Fluorescent Adolescent - Kate Nash

Do Wah Do - Kate Nash

Mouthwash- Kate Nash

Paris - Kate Nash

Pumpkin Soup - Kate Nash

Merry Happy - Kate Nash

Kiss With A Fist - Florence & The Machine

Skeleton Song - Kate Nash

He Wasn’t There - Lily Allen

Sailing Song- A Fine Frenzy

It’s Alive- A Fine Frenzy

When You Grow Up - Priscilla Ann

I Will Get Over You - Priscilla Ann

Way To The Future - Katie Herzig

The Only Place - Best Coast

I then narrowed down these tracks to my favourite three that I thought would be most appropriate for the brief and for our chosen retro theme. I removed those that were too long, those that would be difficult to perform and sing, and those that were not very upbeat, because they would also be very difficult to perform to. 

1) Blow Away - A Fine Frenzy 

This song is very upbeat and therefore lends itself well as a memorable debut track for a female individual artist or band. My idea for Blow Away was very closely related to the analysis I did of Electric Twist, also by A Fine Frenzy, which relied heavily on a theme of innocence and childhood.
For this particular song, I think shooting outdoors in various settings would be appropriate, in order to coincide with the notion of freedom that is expressed in the lyrics. Props such as brightly coloured balloons and bubble blowers also fit strongly with this theme.
#

Visual References

  

 

2) He Wasn't There - Lily Allen

He Wasn't There fits very well with the retro theme that we had in mind, whilst till leaving room for use of contemporary technology. 

Conventionally, old-school songs are performed on stage, which is what I had in mind for the performance aspect of this music video - the lead singer would be accompanied by backing singers and a vintage microphone on stand, in a minimalistic, staged setting. 

The narrative element would be a constructed garden-style setting in a studio with a bench, and flowers/ small birds made out of paper to provide a kind of fun-loving aspect to the music video. The narrative would feature the blossoming of the relationship between the lead singer and her male partner, and the stages would be depicted whilst they sat on a white garden bench.  

Visual References

  

3) Way To The Future - Katie Herzig
My idea for Way To The Future is not too dissimilar from my idea for He Wasn't There, sticking to the old-school theme that our group has decided would be best. However, since the lyrics in Herzig's song narrate a very different story to those in Lily Allen's, the artist identity may be very different. The story in Way To The Future is very much about a girl's shyness in expressing her love, and playing on this idea, I considered working around a nerdy artist identity and a high-school romance sub-theme.
The performance would, again, be in a classic, staged setting, with monochrome colouring, but instead of backing singers, there would be a band and instruments.
On the other hand, the narrative element would take place in the girl's bedroom, which we would have to make both conventionally girly and geeky, with a mixture of pinks and purples and objects such as old books and a globe. We could also have the love interest's bedroom portrayed in the narrative, shown when he receives '... her words, out of the sky.'

Visual References