Lucy A2: Music Video Analysis

Hozier is one of the artists that I have analysed who sticks out and is slightly different in terms of genre. He falls under the following genres: soul music, indie rock, folk and blues. However I still decided to analyse this video because his music videos in general tend to have many characteristics that are seen in indie pop videos such as live performances.
Irish singer-songwriter often bases his songs on important world issues such as 'Take me to Church' and 'Cherry Wine', tugging on the heartstrings of his audience.

I would argue that this music video does display a relationship between the lyrics and visuals. Not a literal relationship as in the lyric matches exactly what I happening on screen, however the actions in the video reflect what the song is about. For example Hozier sings, 'fall in love...everyday with someone new', which is reflected on screen as the female character is seen kissing and being intimate with different men as the narrative continues. Therefore it can be argued that the lyrics match the videos because it is easy to understand the meaning of the song when the visuals are shown, as they lyrics are emphasised and elevated.

There isn't an obvious relationship between the music and visuals in this music videos in terms of movement and cuts matching the beats. However the lip syncing and playing the guitar is perfectly in time with the song its self. I think that this works well in this video especially because Hozier fits the indie genre as it makes the video feel more like a live performance. This engages the audiences and makes them feel more connected to the artist because its as if he is singing to them. It also showcases his talents as there are close ups of him playing the guitar to the beat of the music.

There are close ups of the artist in this video as he is singing and playing the guitar. They are important in a music video because it helps create or boost a start already existent image. In terms of Hozier, he is known for being tall, with long hair that is generally tied up and standing close to the microphone whilst playing the guitar. The close ups in this video demonstrate all of that which helps to generate his star image because his hair for example has become part of his iconography. Its not only the fact that this is done in a close up, but the angle and lighting as well. Most of the close ups of him in this video are back lit, creating a shadowed silhouette of him on stage. This creates impact and makes him appear more dark and mysterious, which may attract audiences, especially women.

I would argue that there is definitely some voyeurism of the female body in this music which is typical of indie pop or pop videos in general. However, Hozier doesn't necessarily fit perfectly within those genres, so his approach to voyeurism is slightly different and tones down a little. The female character in this video is seen kissing different men and at the end takes her top of to reveal her underwear. This could definitely be interpreted as voyeurism because the woman has been sexualised in this music video. Although, this works well in the video because it perfectly expresses Hozier's lyrics.

This music video is half narrative based and half performance based. Hozier performing on stage breaks up the narrative of the blonde woman in a club. The narrative revolves around a women who is lonely and is lost in life, so moves from person to person to try and find the right one, but it never seems to work out. At the end of the video there is close ups of her almost in tears, making the audience empathise and also express emotion, which is typical in narrative based videos as they are engaging.

Lucy A2