Jamara Royle

Nickelback Savin' Me Analysis

Characters

The video creates a binary opposition between life and death which is an archetypal theme of the post-grunge genre. The main character is a man who has just been saved from death and now is this angel like character waiting to save someone himself. It would make sense for him to be an angel as it links to the song lyrics 'Heavens gates won't open up for me' which could suggest he can't get into heaven or out of this purgatory stage until he saves someone. Life and death is a continuous theme throughout the video as it shows the time people have left and how some lives are ended sooner than other for unfair reasons. The other characters are just people going about their daily lives oblivious to this world of purgatory implying how close minded people are.

Iconography

The numbers above the civilian’s heads represents the time that they have left to live which denotes that everyone has to die. The lyrics say 'I'm falling' which could infer that some people are dying for the wrong reason which is why these angel like characters are looking for these people to save so they can save somebody else. There is a scene where an old woman is in the back of an ambulance on the verge of death which evokes emotion yet it's also when the main character discovers that the numbers he can see above people's heads are their life time. The old woman is used as a symbol of death compares to another scene of a woman

pregnant with a baby which shows life as this unborn child has a full life ahead of it. The man realises he doesn't have a time above his head suggests he's in some sort of purgatory and can't live or die till he saves somebody else

linking to the lyrics 'Say it if it's worth saving me' because he has to find somebody who is worth saving.

Narrative

The story is about life and death which is a stereotypical theme of a post-grunge/ alternative rock genre. The video shows a man just being saved and he discovered he's a saviour of some kind stuck in purgatory and has to save someone to get out. The video has both a narrative and performance as the band Nickelback is singing in an apartment. The song could have an underlying meaning of the love and wanting or missing somebody because the lyrics say 'All I need is you' and 'And all I scream for you' which imply all those things, plus it would make sense due to Nickelback's

Jamara Royle

songs mostly being about love. The video is quite religious in a sense because the lyrics could be about a man asking for forgiveness and for god to save him which would explain why this man is trying to save someone. The lyrics could go darker than they already are and could be about a man committing suicide as the lyrics say "These city walls ain't got no love for me, I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story, and all I scream for you, come please I'm callin" which links to the video as the man that has to find somebody to save which could be the one committing suicide.

Setting

The video has two locations a street somewhere in New Jersey and an apartment where the band is singing. The fact the video is set on a street full of people living their lives just shows that people die every day which is key to this music videos theme of life and death.

Technical Codes

Various camera shots and angles are used in this video ranging from Long and medium shots to pan to show people living their life and how this one man has to find someone about to die. Close up shots were used as reaction shots to show then man looking scared and confused about the numbers above the heads of people. Close ups were also used to show the band singing in the apartment showing most of their facial expressions as sad as they are singing about a sad topic. The lighting is low key make the music video seem more dark and grim adding to the overall gloom feel of the video evoking a sense of sadness within their audience.