The Importance of Lyrics

Song lyrics are very important to a song because they make up the main bulk of a song, without the lyrics there would be no song so therefore they are very important, however, they have a pretty big role as well.

• The help to convey the artists emotions/ and views of the world around them. 
• Its a way that the can express there emotions.
• It tells a story and helps to aid the narrative. 
• Helps to convey a message.
• Helps to set the scene.

These are some examples of music videos that are very literal within what happens in the music video in relation to the lyrics. This can be related to one of Goodwin's theories - 'there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visual' suggesting that the lyrics of the song should relate to the content in the music video.

Rebecca Black - Friday

This music video is quite literal, the lyrics on the first line read 'Seven a.m.' and in the music video the alarm clock reads 7:00 a.m. and cuts to an extreme close up of the artist face as she's waking up in bed. Next it cuts to where the artist has mad he way downstairs and she sings the words. However, there is both aspects or performance and narrative within the music video. This carries on throughout the song. Here are some examples from the first stanza.

The first stanza reads;

Seven a.m., waking up in the morning
Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs
Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal
Seein' everything, the time is goin'
Tickin' on and on, everybody's rushin'
Gotta get down to the bus stop
Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends (My friends)

Vance Joy - Riptide 

Compared to the last music video this is a lot more literal in terms of how the lyrics aid the narrative of the video. However this music video compared to Friday by Rebecca Black has a lot less performance, so it begins to become more about the lyrics than the artist. During the first line when the artist sings the word dark the screen gets darker and during the third line when the artist sings the word green the viewer is shown a photo of a green doller bill. There are some more examples below. 

The first stanza reads;

I was scared of dentists and the dark
I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations
Oh, all my friends are turning green
You're the magician's assistant in their dreams

By looking a different literal music videos it will help me to work out the barrier between what works and what's too much visual interpretation to have in a music video.