Damien Rice9 Crimes Analysis

Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin had 7 key ideas that he believed could be identified within a music video. He also believed that each one of these ideas could be found within most, if not all, music videos. For example, he stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, for example a stage performance in a metal video or a dance performance in a boy/girl band music video. Throughout my music video analysis I intend on addressing the different ideas that Goodwin suggested existed within a music video.

Genre Characteristics9 crimes falls into the genre of indie rock. It is common within this genre for songs to be very emotional and music videos within this genre tend to be seen as quite artistic and often happen to have a deeper meaning to them. This is clearly portrayed within Damien Rice’s 9 crimes video as it masks this within mystery to try and keep the audience guessing what the meaning behind this video might be. Near the start of the video, there is an extreme close up on the lips of a female which we later find out does not have a body. This keeps the audience wondering who exactly is this woman and what does she represent. It also challenges the audience expectations through the use of surreal imagery. The main emotion that this video tries to show is sadness, which the lyrics highly impact on as they say “Leave me out with the waste…” Followed later by “it’s a small crime.” This expresses the despair that the woman is feeling and has the audience questioning what ‘crime’ this woman has committed.

Relationship between the visuals and the lyrics

Looking back towards the extreme close up that I mentioned earlier, as the woman sings the words “leave me out with the waste,” the camera begins to slowly zoom out from the woman's lips to reveal that she is just a head that has been discarded and left within the rubbish, surround by waste disposal bins. This is later sung again, however this time by the male. He is seen to be searching through the rubbish as he sings the line. This also expresses the feeling of depression within the video.

Close-ups of the artist?During the music video for 9 crimes, there’s multiple close ups of both the male and female singers, and there is even an extreme close-up on the female singer. However the majority of the video consists of long shots and medium shots, as to fit in both of the characters within the video. This is effective as it helps to portray the connection between both the male and female character within the video while also still following the conventions of a normal music video by including plenty of clos up shots of the artist. However, these close-ups were not likely used to follow convention but more likely used as they expand the narrative and deepen it’s meaning.

Notion to LookingWithin the music video there is a direct mode of address from the female character looking directly into the camera, however when the male appears he seems to be trying his best to look away from the camera. This may suggest the difference between the two as the woman may feel as if she is still pure while the man almost seems to have a guilty conscience. This is later supported by the male searching through the rubbish in a voyeuristic manner before he finds the woman’s head.

Is the video illustration, amplification or contradicting? How much of each?The music video for 9 crimes fits into the category of illustration and also the category of amplification. For example the narrative starts with the bodiless woman lying in the rubbish/waste and begins with the head singing the lyrics “Leave me out with the waste…” This is a clearly illustrative section of the song, however it is used in build up to the later amplification that comes within the song. The character is then revealed to be just a head, emphasising the idea of having nobody to turn to, addressing the amplification of the video. Later during the video, she is revealed to be a floating head (almost like a balloon) that floats away from the male character, this suggests that a man has hurt her before and she is floating away so that she doesn’t get hurt again. Further in the video she gets popped by a boy firing a stone at her using a slingshot. This emphasises the concept of the old saying ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.’ This is almost used in a contradictory way as it is used to show that whatever has been said to the woman in the past has effected her in a way that makes her feel like she has been shattered.