The All-American Rejects - Goodwin Analysis

The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell: Goodwin Analysis

As soon as the video begins, it is obvious that it is going to be a narrative video rather than any other elaborate, abstract video or even a live performance video. As the lyrics start, there is an immediate relationship between lyrics and visuals when he sings "wake up every evening with a big smile on my face" as that is exactly what he is seen doing. However, despite the first impression of the music video, it cuts to the band set up in the setting of the video, performing the song and there is a clap which the whole band do in sync with the sound of the clap in the music. The whole concept of the  "gives you hell" idea is put across and expressed in the video, as one man is giving another man a hard time whilst living next door to each other. 

There is another relationship between lyrics and visuals when he sings "where's your picket fence love?" as it shows the more mature, sensible couple in their home, the stereotypical american family couple who live in a house with a white picket fence. When more of a beat kicks in, the shots cut to the band playing drums and are completely in sync with the music. Due to the fact that the whole video has a massive narrative, the two men (played by the same man) are actually singing the lyrics to each other. Small guitar solos are accompanied by a guitarist playing. 

There is a notion of looking in this music video which also relates back to the lyrics when he sings "when you see my face" he looks into a mirror to look at the camera once again, which is one of Goodwin's points in his analysis. The glaring of the mirror onto the other man is also relating to the song's title "gives you hell" as he is quite literally making his life harder.  

The other people in the music video then proceed to sing the chorus through cones to make their voices seem echoed, this is related to the sound of the lyrics and it makes it seem like they all contributed to the song. There are many close ups of the band and especially the lead singer Tyson Ritter to show that they are the main focus of the entire music video, and the fact that there are actually two of Tyson Ritter emphasises the importance of him. 

Overall, I think that whilst having a completely narrative based music video is fun to watch, it is actually quite basic and can get boring. Once it has been watched once, it's been seen but with a more artistic music video, there can be parts missed on the first viewing and it becomes more and more interesting the more you watch it. I think that relating music and visuals is again seen as very important in all music videos and it is definitely something to consider when planning my music video.