Annotated lyrics

Chosen song for music video!

http://www.unsignedbandweb.com/music/bands/12083/

This is a link to our artist, Chris Cohen. We chose his song 'If You Only Knew' because the lyrics are based around the original ideas we have for Problem, Power and Purity. We changed from the Christian genre to Acoustic but Chris Cohen is also an Enlightening singer. We will soon upload the lyrics sheet but here are the lyrics unannotated.

When its you and me
And there’s no one else around
I know that you’ve been there for me
The feelings so profound

You feel like home
A place where I can go
I feel a burning fire for you
I feel it in my bones

If you only knew then you
might understand
oh, oh, oh
you might understand
oh, oh, oh
you might understand
oh, oh, oh

When I look in your eyes
Our first night comes to mind
And the way I held you close to me
On a cold dark winter night

Then you kissed me on the cheek
Just to say goodnight
When I first saw you baby
I had stars in my eyes

If you only knew then you
might understand
oh, oh, oh
you might understand
oh, oh, oh
you might understand
oh, oh, oh

Now I feel at home
My puzzles been complete
Its all because of you
If you only knew

URLs for research so far...

For my research project for the music industry, I have been looking into the ways in which women are represented and stereotyped. I have been looking on some websites to try and find more information, and my next step will be to relate it to genre.

Key articles I have found so far:
http://www.thefword.org.uk/search?search=the+music+industry

This gives me 68 articles related to feminism and the music industry from the website 'The F Word' which is a feminist website that posts articles related to the representation and stereotyping of women.

One of the articles has really caught my eye. Entitled "What's up, baby?” the article is written by a woman who is deeply disheartened by the way in which women, particularly black women, are represented. She explains that she has worked as a model and a sex worker, and believes that her race and culture are represented as women in bikinis and sexy outfits for people like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

http://www.thefword.org.uk/features/2002/10/whats_up_baby

This aids the answer to my question, ‘To what extent is the way women are represented in the music industry genre specific?’, by referencing the work of RnB artists.

Christian Music Videos

Here are some examples of Christain music videos; either all performance, part performance part narrative or all narrative.

Audio Adrenaline - Get Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnnbbmRDwVk

Unfortunately this one wouldn't let me have an embedding code. This is a part performace, part story video. Mostly dominated by story, it tells of a guy who is having a normal day at work and out and about, but things aren't going well for him. "I get down, and He lifts me up" is the prominent line in the song, meaning that although he is having a bad day, he knows God is there to get him through. Thre aren't many symbollic things in the video such as a Cross or a Bible or something, yet there is a strong reference to Christianity in the lyrics throughout the whole song.

Carrie Underwood - Jesus Take The Wheel


This video, to some extent, is like our video ideas. It has characters that start off with problems - one with a baby crying and another is a couple arguing - and they turn out ok in the end with the help of Christ. Again, like previously and like our video, it is part performance, part story. The narrative works well because there are three seperate situations that are happening. I think that the purpose of this video is to target all non-Christians by using normal situations that quite possibly will happen in that person's future. That way they can relate to it more easily.

Our God He Reigns - Simon Brading and 29th Chapter


This is purely a performance. When I went to the Newday festival in August, they performed this song, however this video is performed at Newday 2008. It shows that as long as you have something happening in the performance that's interesting, in this case the crowd and the hilariously weird rappers, then a full performance video can work. Although, it can become a bit of a monotony having to watch it all the way through!

Song and ideas for Music Video

We have chosen a song which is, for the moment, called Problem, Power and Purity. It is a Christ-focused song with a lot of reference to the power God can have in people. In the song, there are two characters; one male and one female. They both have problems at the beginning and, through Christ and the Cross, overcome their problems and end up in a better situation. They start off separately and then come together at the end.

What enigmas does your video create?

Our video, and song to some extent, asks the audience questions, as well as the audiences wanting to know things too.

• Why are the characters upset/down?
• Where do they fit into the story?
• Are they two seperate people, or do they link in some way?
• How are they becoming stronger?

What will keep the audience hooked and watching?

The audience will, no doubt, want to know whether the characters can overcome their problems, and therefore how they do. Why is the Cross a dominant symbol in a lot of the scenes? And also there is the question of whether the characters are related or not.

What conventions are you using/challenging?

We are using the convention of part narrative, part performance for our video because we believe that the music video should represent the artist's views of the song. We challenge the audience's perception of Christianity, religion and Faith by being quite controversial. Symbolism is also used with the Church and the Cross necklace.