COLDPLAYH Y M N F O R T H E W E E K E N D

THE MUSIC VIDEO: A BRIEF HISTORYAt 12:01am on August 1, 1981, history was made when MTV,

the first 24-hour video music channel, launched onto our television sets and literally changed our lives with the birth of the music video. The first video ever played on the network

was quite ironic — “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles. With this new outlet that possessed exciting

opportunities for not just the singers but in technology and communications too, the music video reputation soared, playing a central role in popular music marketing. Many

important acts of this period, most notably Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran and Madonna, owed a great deal of their success to the skilful construction and seductive appeal of

their videos.Since then, though the popularity of the music video has

somewhat diminished, artists from all around the video often stream live videos primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Often, music videos these days also use a wide range of

styles of contemporary video making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-

narrative approaches such as abstract film.

GOODWIN’S THEORYGoodwin's theory on music videos consists of six basic elements which many music videos

tend to include, as listed below: • There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying,

contradicting).• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (eg stage performance in metal video,

dance routine for boy/girl band).• There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying,

contradicting). Thought beats – where we ‘see’ the sound.• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist

and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).• There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens,

telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.• There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc).

COLDPLAY – HYMN FOR THE WEEKEND

With 555,869,281 views on YouTube, ‘Hymn for the Weekend’ is the second song to be taken from Coldplay’s seventh studio album ‘A Head Full Of Dreams’, following shortly after ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’. The song was written by Coldplay frontrunner Chris Martin and, since its release, has

reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number six on the UK Singles Chart. The single also reached the top twenty in over twenty countries, including Switzerland, Spain, Australia and Germany. The music video which was filmed to accompany the song features Chris Martin and

his band as well as Beyonce in various cities in India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YykjpeuMNEk

1. GENRE CHARACTERISTICSAs a band defined by the genres of alternative rock, pop rock and piano rock, there are certain genre characteristics which would be expected to be found in other videos conforming to the same category. In this case, there are several shots of the band playing their instruments, including an establishing shot and several close ups of the individual band members with their instruments too. By doing this, the band demonstrate an entire attention upon their music, as well as their audience as they enjoy seeing them having a good time, something which is regularly found in several other of their music videos and other music videos of bands with similar genres.

2. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND

VISUALS When applying this segment of Goodwin’s theory to Coldplay’s music video, it can be argued that the visuals both contradict and yet amplify the lyrics.

Upon the lyrics ‘Put your wings on me/Wings on me/When I was so heavy’, a high angle shot reveals a flock of birds taking flight and soaring into the air. In this part, both the lyrics and the visuals slot together and

both give the impression of being able to fly away again and soar because some kind of heavy burden has been lifted.

A further meaning between the lyrics and the visuals can also be found upon the lyrics ‘Let me shoot across the sky’ which sees a young Indian woman opening her hands to release some colourful confetti. The

camera then follows and tracks this confetti flying away, which once more implies the meaning of soaring across the sky as the lyrics suggest.

That said, however, a lot of other shots which precede and follow contradict the lyrics so that no overall relationship or meaning between the two can evidently be distinguished, what with the mise-en-scene that sets the video in a remote town in India and the strange, vibrant paint which stains the band members and the people dancing around them. One could say, nonetheless, that this is done with good reason. Because the song itself has no particular meaning or moral, the music video itself doesn’t have to either. Instead,

the directors perhaps wish for the audience to focus more upon the relationship between the music and the visuals instead as well as the song’s catchy beat and tune.

3. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND

VISUALSAs mentioned above, there is certainly a stronger relationship defined the music and the visuals, much more than we see between the lyrics and the visuals. Several shots which see a young boy performing a backflip in slow

motion with the slow beat, as well as the dramatic releasing of the woman’s confetti into the air and the exploding fireworks when the sound and tune

instantly pick up again are all examples of thoughtbeats – the audience can ‘see the sound’. By doing so, the dramatic effects and the slow pounding of

the music fit smoothly together, and create a music video which is much more catchy and upbeat and lures the audience in more by amplifying both

the music and the visuals.

4. INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCESIt can certainly be argued that the vibrant colours of the paint and the

backdrop which Beyonce is seen to be in hold intertextual links to the album from which the song originates from. The cover for ‘A Head Full Of Dreams’ is extremely bold, with lively shades of pink, yellow, blue, green and turquoise,

all of which are entangled together in tight circles and surrounded by mystical shapes and objects, such as UFOs. Certainly, similar shapes and colours are found in the video, which make reference to both the song and the album.

5. THE DEMANDS OF THE RECORD LABEL + MOTIFS

For Chris Martin’s role, there are very few particular close ups of his face, which doesn’t convey the idea of stardom and fame as found in Ariana’s video. Instead, his shots are

either middle shots or shots which see him surrounded and accompanied by other people. There is, however, for Beyonce’s part several close ups and individual shots

where she is seen to be the focus, which, despite it being Coldplay’s song, portrays her as being the most important and significant role, even when her vocals make up very little of the melody. This can, however, arguably be expected, due to Beyonce’s well-

known name and popularity in both the music industry and in popular culture too, with hot topics of feminism and equality for women and ethnicity too for which she is seen to

stand for and represent.

6. THE NOTION OF LOOKING + VOYEURISTIC TREATMENT OF THE FEMALE

BODYInterestingly, this video contains no notions of looking for effect in Chris’s part, but does for Beyonce. One shot depicts her looking slowly from the right hand side to the centre in a slow and, rather voluptuous and teasing way, whilst a medium shot then depicts her head and shoulders and the tops of her outfit. Whilst there is no panning or tracking to depict a voyeuristic treatment of the female body, the middle shot does reveal her rather figure-hugging and open

outfit and does ensure that the viewer’s eyes instantly looks to her chest. Though subtle, this is yet another direct reference to how females use sex to sell and that

their real talent is subsided because of this.