Wednesday 17 September 2014

IH: Semiotics of a Music Video



Artist: Milky Chance
Song: Stolen Dance
Director: Jana & Stefan Cantante
Premiered: 5th April 2013

This song is about drug addiction and the how the artist's loved one is addicted while he is now clean. He says "I want you by my side so that I never feel alone again", which is directed at his girlfriend whose addiction has ruined their relationship. However, despite the fact that the lyrics in this song have a clear meaning and give the song its message, the music video does not have a clear relationship to the visuals, making it disjunctive.
 
This is a conceptual music video which uses a simplistic set to avoid detracting from the meaning behind the song. It features the artist performing for the audience, but not necessarily TO them, which is evident as he looks away from the camera for the entirety of the song. The video features a series of vintage-looking clips being projected onto him and the room to the effect of showing his thoughts reminiscing about a better time in the past before drug addiction had the negative effect on his life that it has done. It is interesting to note that the plain white of the set design is remarkably similar to an iconic rehab centre.

Roland Barthes' theory of The Symbolic Code applies here as the white of the background could be argued as being a metaphor for his emptiness, or his purity now that he has managed to escape the trap of drug addiction. Furthermore The Enigmatic Code is relevant here too as the audience might question the strange setting or the dreamlike aesthetic of the music video.

The music video is shot exclusively with the use of tripods because it connotes stillness, which in this case translates to him feeling like his life is not progressing (now that he is without his girlfriend). Furthermore it also suggests isolation, which combined with the featureless background shows that he is devastated by the loss of his partner, and now retreats into his thoughts to shelter from the anguish of the loss (hence the dreamlike tone of the video).

Lyrics
I want you by my side
So that I never feel alone again
They've always been so kind
But now they've brought you away from me
I hope they didn't get your mind
Your heart is too strong, anyway
We need to fetch back the time
They have stolen from us

[2x:]
I want you
We can bring it on the floor
You've never danced like this before
We don't talk about it
Dancing on, do the boogie all night long
Stoned in paradise
Shouldn't talk about it

Shouldn't talk about it

Coldest winter for me
No sun is shining anymore
The only thing I feel is pain
Caused by absence of you
Suspense controlling my mind
I cannot find the way out of here

I want you by my side
So that I never feel alone again

[4x:]
I want you
We can bring it on the floor
You've never danced like this before
We don't talk about it
Dancing on, do the boogie all night long
Stoned in paradise
Shouldn't talk about it

Shouldn't talk about it

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