Fall Out Boys Young Blood chronicles recap and speculation

Hi,


I've been analysing the music videos for the singles off the album Save Rock and Roll by Fall Out boy for a while now. 

I analyse music videos from other artists too but I probably enjoy analysing theses a little more, I like the way the videos tell a story.
There is so much more to work out and decipher than that of an average music video, I like seeing things from earlier videos turn up in later videos with more explanation.


The only problem with stories that explain them selves better later on, is that I end up with a long list of things I either didn't see or understand from earlier videos popping up in newer videos.
 I then end up trying to explain things that happened earlier, in post for more recent videos and end up really confusing myself.
It's awful.


I've Now decided to make a recap.


I like discussing things with people in the comments and it's always a good idea to check because other people have some interesting theories.
So even if you aren't thinking about commenting I recommend having a look, interesting to see what others have written.



Any way my point is someone wrote a comment on the Where Did the Party Go post,  I thought they made some really cool points, I've thought about those points a little since and expanded on them.

He made a point that the kidnappers could represent the music industry, if that is the case that would mean the band is being manipulated an abused by all the people in the industry so that would mean: Record labels, the news, fans/haters and Other artists are all conspiring against them .


The Phoenix

I would say that in the phoenix video the band has made music (which is what's inside the case).
The music is very valuable and they want to keep it safe which is why everyone is so interested in it.
The boy in that video is like a fan, Patrick is trusting toward this boy and he likes the attention from the boy which is the start of all the pain.


The band were effectively picked up by a record label and were taken from their normal, boring lives.

The act of being kidnapped by the industry is a metaphor of becoming famous, because clearly your life would drastically change the second you became famous.
They went from people taking part in every day life minding their own business to people who were being chased and hunted by people, similar to the relationship of celebrity and paparazzi.


I didn't understand why Patrick had his hand cut off in The Phoenix video, I think my explanation was that they wanted the case and they wanted to get it from him in the most horrible way possible, which I guess is also true but I now have a new theory.

I think he lost his arm to show what artist sacrifice to become famous, Being a musician hands are very important. 

I think that being signed by a record label is probably quite restricting, it's obviously great because now the signed artist now has the funding to create music, but at the same time you're at the mercy of a bigger organisation and if they decide not to promote an artists album or give them as many tour dates there isn't a lot the artist can do about it.

By having his hand cut off it's like saying that "if we can't have you nobody will" and now Patrick can't perform for anyone else.


Young Volcanoes


In the Young Volcanoes Video the band are in a way enjoying themselves, they have been signed and they now have money and attention and begin to indulge themselves.

It looks like the "industry" are making them indulge but I don't think it's as simple as that.
Clearly a record label/newspaper/fans aren't going to give an artist drugs and alcohol and then make them consume it.

What I do think is that many artist/celebrities do suffer with substance abuse when they become famous, I think that the celebrity lifestyle often leads to addiction.
So in a way the "industry" may have indirectly caused artists and celebrities to experience the events as seen in Young Volcanoes.


Alone Together

This video was interesting, I think this is the first time we saw how fame effected the band, we saw Andy's privacy being invaded, Joe being heckled by "fans/haters", Pete having his romantic life on display to the paparazzi (and then the end of his relationship) and poor Patrick being "changed".

If in this case the kidnappers in Patrick's room are a record label then that would mean that they want him to behave in a certain way and gain control of him.
This makes sense seeing as he only changes when that tape is played, it could be a metaphor of how most artists are expected to behave in a certain way in videos and promotional material.

Many female artists for example are very sexulised in their videos, now I very much doubt that these women dress and act sexually in every day situations, like going out to pick their children up from school or grocery shopping. 

When the tape plays Patrick's eyes change, that change is physical like how some artists might be expected to dress more sexually, The change in his personality is similar to how artist might have to act more sexually.

Of course male artists can be sexulised too and artists can be changed for reasons other than sexulisation.

I think that Patrick being changed is interesting because it could explain all of the artists involvement.


The motives of the other artists

I came to the conclusion (in the Death Valley analysis) that the kidnappers are against music and that they are kidnapping artists and are torturing and using them yet so many artists are involved in this.

2 Chaniz

First up is 2 Chainz, the first artist we see in My Songs Know What you Did In The dark, he is a rapper and he was shown to set alight the van with Fall Out Boy inside of it.

I personally believe that he was being manipulated in a similar way to Patrick, he was wearing sunglasses so my theory is  neither proven true or false.

When a rapper is asked to feature on another artists track they will usually write their own verses.

Fall Out Boy

The next artist/Artists would be Fall Out Boy themselves, Patrick is clearly being manipulated but the rest of the band are also being manipulated.
There seems to be a game of cat and mouse going on, they think they are safe and everything is finally going to be okay but then they get recaptured again.

In a way I guess this is like a metaphor for life in general, sometimes good things will happen and sometimes bad things will happen but no matter what something bad and something good are going to be coming your way eventually.

In the Death Valley video Joe signs up with the devil and Andy and Pete join the resistance.
The devil could represent corporate music labels and the rebels an Indy label.


Big Sean

Then there is Big Sean.
He is also a rapper only he doesn't seem to cooperate with the kidnappers as well as 2 Chainz seems to.

He is interesting because he is pretty much the first person to be seen in the same situation as Fall Out Boy, if the change in eyes means that someone is being controlled then that would mean that Sean isn't being controlled, other wise then the kidnappers would've simply "changed his eyes" to gain control of him and not kill him.

I think that perhaps he isn't being controlled because he is a rapper and the record label has less control over his opinions so he is able stand up to them to some degree.
In the end it proved futile because he was killed, that could be a representation of someone standing up to their record label because they don't like what they are doing, but then getting dropped and or sued by their record label.


Foxes 

The next artist is foxes, she is a singer song writer who featured on the Just One Yesterday Single.

In the video she is seen driving a red van, she picks up the band and takes them to Linda Vista.

Although she set the band up and used the tape to "change" Patrick I don't think she is evil.
At the end of the video her eyes changed to black at the end of the video similar to how Patrick's eyes change.

Another thing that makes me  think he wasn't really evil was how she leaned out of the window of the van and let go of the steering wheel.

That makes me think she didn't want to take the band to the hospital.

I think because foxes is the kind of artist who features on lots of other artists tracks she represents the new female artist , she is does what she is expected of, even if she doesn't really want to do it or her label will drop her or she won't become successful.

It is similar to how a singer song writer might feature on a song they don't like or write a song that aren't proud of for money.


Tommy Lee
He plays the devil, the drummer of Motley Crue is known for drug taking and he has been in trouble with the police many times so he would make the perfect Satan.


My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark

This is the first video to be released and it is the video where the band's equipment, the bands merchandise and the band members them selves are being burnt.
I would say this is meant to represent the break up of the band.
I would like to say this is a metaphor of being dropped by a record label, like the record label has finished with them and is now trying to destroy them, the only problem with that theory is that in the next video they aren't dead, they are let go and hunted back down by someone.

Maybe this isn't about a record label maybe it's another area in "the industry", maybe in this case it's about the critics giving them bad reviews or 


The Mighty Fall

This episode is where we get to see how the tape effects Patrick for the first time.
Even though they are no longer with their record label (they seemingly escaped) Patrick is still being controlled, possibly due to a contract.

The children are possibly meant to be "fans" I use the word fan loosely because clearly fans don't bludgeon their idols.

I think these "fans" are angry either because of the split, the last album or the band member's solo careers, the verbal abuse the band got when they split has been represented in this video with physical abuse.

The band part ways.

 Just One Yesterday

In the video for Just One Yesterday everyone is experiencing horrible things as they recover from the events of The Might Fall.
Foxes picks everyone up and drops them off at Linda Vista.

I think this is the video where they regret splitting, clearly they split for a reason. (the reason is the events from Alone Together I.E the heckling from "fans", The invasion of privacy and that sort of thing.)
But the only other people who knows what each band member is going through is the other members in the band which isn't really good enough on it's own.


Being back together doesn't heal their wounds or protect them and Patrick is still being controlled so in the end their reunion solves nothing.


This could potentially be the point where the band got back together slowly but at this point they haven't worked out their differences.

The tape is played and Patrick changes, possibly because he still has a contract.

Where Did The Party Go

When at Linda Vista Patrick attacks the other band members, he kills Joe and Pete phones the police.

The location is a famous setting for music videos, it is also supposedly haunted.
The music video is essentially  filmed in a haunted hospital where music videos are filmed and it features ghosts.
The location lives up to it's legacy.

I had a hard time trying to work out the meaning of this video and i'm still not 100% sure what it means.

The band seems to be trying to open doors and escape so it could be a metaphor of having limited opportunities or something, seeing as they found it so hard trying  find doors that actually opened.
It could reference the phrase "having a door slammed in your face".

Death valley

This episode is the aftermath of the events from Where Did The Party Go, Patrick is arrested for killing Joe, Joe goes to hell and makes a pact with the devil, Andy and Pete get some weapons and the ring leader is revealed.

Joe most likely went to hell because of the sins he committed in Young Volcanoes. (gluttony from over eating, and lust for dancing with nude women)

It looks like Andy and Pete have joined the resistance against the kidnappers which in a way is similar to joining an independent record label.

Both Patrick and Joe are taken away by women.

And that is the story so far, however there are some things I don't understand still.

Things that are still unexplained

• Why was there an image of a blue spotted stingray in The Phoenix video?
• Why did Pete Wentz release a bird of prey?
• What is in the case?
• What are the kidnappers trying to achieve?
• Why was 2 Chainz working with the kidnappers?
• What happened to Foxes?

I hope this ties my theories together a little more and I look forward to the next video.

Death Valley (Part 8 of 11) featuring Tommy Lee

We're coming to the end of the Young Blood chronicles, we only have 3 more videos to go.

I think the next video will be Rat a Tat. (which I'm really excited about seeing) I just think that the lyrics for Miss Missing You sounds like it could be an epilogue type of video and I think that Save Rock and Roll will be the conclusion, I could be completely  wrong and you have my permission to laugh at me.





The video starts at the end of Where Did The Party Go with Joe lying dead on an operating chair/table under a disco ball, this really just sets the scene and reminds you what happened before. (like when you watch a cartoon and the character repeats the same line after the ad break as they did before the break.)

The camera is moving down a corridor where lights flash at the end and the camera is brought to a lift shaft, this looks like a representation of a light at the end of the tunnel that people supposedly see when they die.

Joe is then seen standing in the lift as it rises smiling into the white light and reaches out for it, the lights then turn red and Joe looks disappointed, the lift turns dark and the curly haired boy from The Phoenix and The Mighty Fall video is standing in the lift in a suit pressing the button.

At first both Joe and the audience think he's going to heaven but then suddenly it's made clear that actually he's not, the dark red lighting and the boy would indicate he went to hell.
The fact it was white for a while might suggest he almost got into heaven but he just missed out.
The fact that he ended up in hell would also suggest that no matter how good of a person you are compared to a person who is really evil like the boy it still doesn't necessarily make you a good person (or good enough to make it into heaven at least.)

The song starts with the title card set on a mansion with red lighting, a semi nude woman is wrapped around a pole, this is their representation of hell.
If hell is where sinners go why can't they continue sinning? If lust, greed, gluttony, pride and sloth are all sins then hell could be a place you can have all the sex,money and food you want and do nothing all day but stroke your ego.

(of course wrath and envy are sins too and I would rather avoid being jealous and angry so many hell isn't going to be that great of a place.)

Mean while Patrick has been arrested for killing Joe and is having a mug shot taken and getting his fingers printed, it's pretty ironic really that they try taking prints from his stump.

 this could be a metaphor for something, like maybe the police are being unreasonable and oblivious to the fact that something bad happened to Patrick and that someone should be doing something about that but I don't see how this could relate to the police.

If the metaphor has something to do with fame, I.E if people/the media/police/fans/whatever are criticising him for something and ignoring his side of the story why would it be the police?
because surly the police only get involved with something if it's illegal, if it was meant to be journalists or something why not use people who could symbolize journalists?

Or it could just be a joke.


Andy and Pete are sitting in a questioning room, they look tired and distraught.

Patrick's feet are chained and he is being led to a cell whilst Pete and Andy try to explain what happened.

Back in "hell" Joe walks into a large manor house type of room with red lighting.
the room is full of young attractive women (some of which were scantily clad), one woman offered him donuts and drink and he smokes.
Like I said, hell is where sinners go and the women represent the sin lust, the donuts and drink represent gluttony.

Joe turns his attention to an open door way at the top of a grand stair case, the silhouette of a horned man and 2 young women can been see in the door way.
The horned man is the devil  and he is played by Tommy Lee, drummer of Motley Crue.

The video cuts between shots of the devil walking through hordes of slow dancing women and shots of Patrick in a police cell singing as he bashes the bars.

There is a stark contrast between Patrick's situation and Joe's situation, I think this could be a reference to the phrase "rest in peace", because Joe died and is now happy and enjoying himself whilst Patrick lives on and is suffering.

The devil coaxes Joe and makes Joe kiss the his ring, this could be a metaphor of making a deal or a pact with the devil, having met the devil and seeing what hell is like he may have decided to side with him in exchange for all the things he wants. (I.E women, food, drink so on and so fourth.)

back in the land of the living Patrick is pacing around his cell and a police officer is getting angry with Pete and Andy in the interrogation room, he then walks out in a fit of rage.

Scenes of Patrick pacing up and down his cell pumping his fists in frustration interchange to scenes of Joe receiving attention from 5 women.

Again I think the contrast relates to rest in peace, now Joe is dead he no longer has to deal with the fear and uncertainty of being chased a tortured by the kidnappers.

A piece of paper slides under the door of the interrogation room where Pete and Andy and still sitting, they read the note which says "I wear the crown but I'm no princess" which is similar to the lyrics for this single:

"Oh there you go; undress to impress

You can wear the crown but you’re no princess"

Crown/Trapezium

The symbol is similar to the tattoo on Patrick's hand in The Phoenix only Patrick's symbol has the bands initials in the trapezium .

The F.O.B Crown/Trapezium on Patrick's hand

"I wear the crown" not only refers to the lyrics but it also refers to the symbol which has a crown, I think the symbol is used to prove that they are on Fall Out Boys side because they "wear the crown" symbol on their body .

 this only makes me wonder where the symbol came from, what it means and how other people are aware of the symbol, I think that maybe the bird of prey that Pete released had a message with that symbol attached to it.

I guess the symbol will be explained at some point within the next few videos.

The back of the note has the address "15 15 Broadway 5015, Death valley, CA" written on it.

Back in hell the devil is tattooing a symbol on Joe's hand which looks like this:

Devil/Crown on Joe's hand

It's interesting to note that this tattoo is on a different hand to the one Patrick had but that it's still a tattoo on a hand tattoo, maybe there is something significant about hands?

Hands are pretty important I suppose because we do so much with our hands so maybe having them tattooed to show alliance shows loyalty or something?

Perhaps losing your hand/having someone cut your hand off shows some kind of loss?

Anyway this symbol is similar to the other two because of the crown but this tattoo features a horned smiley face instead of the trapezium.
 This symbol is clearly meant to symbolise the devil and I guess this means Joe is now working with him, Joe looked slightly confused when looking at the symbol possibly because it is similar to the original symbol or maybe he's confused for an entirely different reason.

Pete and Andy turn up at what I presume to the the address from the note and meet a blonde woman with the symbol from the note tattooed on her neck.

At some point between leaving the police station and heading to the location they have had a change of clothes and cleaned themselves up.

Crown/Trapezium on girls neck.

There is a large evidence board on the wall.

The symbol of the line through the music symbol from Where Did The Party Go appears on the board in different forms, mostly in black white and red, it's interesting to remember that the snakes where also red, white (well white-ish) and black.


There are some wanted posters, it's unclear if any of the women are anyone in particular I.E a singer or musician.

There are various hard to read post it notes and a big map of america with certain locations marked out.
It looks like 2 places are marked out in California, 1 in Wisconsin, 1 in Georgia, 1 in Florida and 1 in New Mexico.

The blonde woman pulls a band with the symbol of a musical note with a line through it off her arm, I would say that the symbol belongs to the kidnappers.

It makes sense, if the kidnappers are going around capturing and using musicians it would imply that the kidnappers don't like music hence the line through the note.

This would imply that the woman is a double agent working with the kidnappers to find out what their up to only that Fall out Boy weren't aware that she was a double agent.

I'm slightly confused, Fall out Boy are aware of the crown/trapezium symbol (because Patrick had it on a tattoo and Andy and Pete knew that it meant they could trust the user of the symbol) but they didn't know who she was so does that mean she was sent by someone they knew and trusted?

Another thing that bothers me is that if they were aware of the kidnappers (it seems they were because they went to the trouble of locking the case to Patrick's wrist) why didn't they defend them selves better?

Although I'm not really sure whether or not the case was locked to Patrick for protection against kidnappers or whether it has something other significance.
I think the case locked to the wrist maybe one of those things that is meaning based and not story based if you know what I mean.

 Joe is playing guitar with the devil in front of hordes of women in hell. The double agent woman is showing video evidence to Andy and Pete of how the kidnapping organisation is ran.

 It is portrayed as an academy like organisation where the women who do the kidnapping and torturing are taught, I personally think it looks like brainwashing or propaganda or something, it's just the way in which they looks so happy and the way they move in unison makes me think that someone has conditioned to feel this way.

Patrick is still in his cell.

The double agent explains the evidence board to Andy and Pete and some of the post it notes are zoomed in on so they can be read better.

The ringleader is clearly Courtney Love, the license plate read Rat a Tat, the title of the track she featured in on the album, but we already knew about that.
 (Why is there a question mark after the word plate? are they unsure as to whether it is her car or is because there are more than one vehicle involved? Or is something else entirely?)


 That picture looks like her.

Courtney Love performing at the Sundance film festival jan 2013

As for the Headquarters I honestly have no idea if it's a famous place or just a place, I presume that is the location for the next video but whether the location has a  meaning I don't know.

  If anyone has any information on the headquaters, that would be great. I would love to hear any theories as to why that location was chosen.

The double agent hands out instrument based weapons to Andy and Pete, it's sad because there are three weapons prepared: a base guitar (gun?) for Pete, a drum crossbow for Andy, a microphone mace for Patrick and a guitar axe for Joe.

This is sad, Joe died and Patrick was captured/changed.
They were obviously hoping the whole band could make it but sadly they only manged to find 2 members.

The woman instructs Pete and Andy on what to do while, Joe continues to perform with the devil and Patrick continues to sing in his cell.

There is a little romance as Andy holds the woman's hand lovingly as he leaves, this scene cuts to Patrick as she sits on the bench in his cell and sings sadly.

The video then cuts back to the woman standing alone in the room with the evidence board, Andy returns to kiss her.

I think this part of the video has it's own meaning:

You have someone who died, he is happy and doesn't have a care in the world.

 A man who alive but is feeling so sad and guilty for killing his friend that he looks as though he has given up on life.

And then there is Andy, a man who is also alive but is a much better place emotionally despite all the pain he's been through because he feels optimistic about the future.

Andy can see the potential relationship he could have with this girl and so he has a reason to stay alive and fight whilst Patrick can't see anything worth fighting for and has given up.

I think lots of people can relate to feeling this way and I think that people should try and think positively, just because things don't look great now it doesn't mean they can't get better.

There are some more close ups of the evidence board, most of it doesn't make an awful lot of sense to me so I'm wondering if maybe some of these close ups will have some relevance later on.

This shot shows more of the symbols and a number.

This shot features the number plate, a post-it that reads "flag @ headquarters" and a newspaper clipping that says "Another Music Store Hit".

The newspaper either means that another music store has made a hit or success or another music store has been attacked most likely the latter.

 This shot looks like the women are practicing operating and amputating Patrick's arm.

This shot features a woman breaking something with a guitar/ breaking a guitar.

I would say this organisation clearly has something against music, which would be awkward seeing that if Courtney Love is the ringleader why does she hate music when she is a musician herself?
 I wonder if there will be some sort of plot twist because that could be interesting or some some sort of interesting explanation as to why she hates music so much.

back in hell the devil offers Joe a what looks like some kind of sweet.
 The footage blurs as the devil mouths the "I'll get you high"lyrics, the scene continues to blur on and of and cuts back to Patrick occasionally.

There is a blink and you'll miss it moment where 2 men in suits can be seen in hell amongst the women.

They seem to be making business with the women, in the second shot the man is handing a woman a hot dog.
Hot dogs are fast food, and fast food is generally seen as an unhealthy type of food; the man also has an untrusting expression so that would imply that the hot dag was bad in some way. (I guess a hot dog is more of an indulgent snack opposed to an actual meal so it could also represent gluttony.)

I think the purpose of these men are to show that these women were led or encouraged into the sins they committed by people higher up.

Joe begins to realise he is being led away by 2 women whilst back in the police station a police officer is heading to Patrick's cell with the keys and 2 women.

Joe is forced up the stairs from which the devil entered the room and Patrick is let out of his cell and dragged away.

I think Joe was dragged away because she he made a deal with the devil.

 if these videos are meant to be about the dark side of celebrity lifestyle or the break up of Fall Out Boy, then that would imply that Joe signed himself away so that he could enjoy all the sinful things (like sex, lots of food and drink etc.) but at the same time he just effectively sold his soul to the devil.

 He will now probably have to do the devil's bidding which he probably doesn't want to do in exchange for the things he wants i.e food and women.

This could be a metaphor of how people will do things they don't want to do to get what they want, especially in the news industry, music industry and film industry, for example:

A new undiscovered singer song writer may be asked to feature on another artists single to promote themselves.

This singer song writer could have written some amazing songs and could have beautiful voice and they really want to sing their own songs but nobody is interested and they feel that if they could get their name out there they might get more offers. 

The artist that wants the new singer to feature on their single is very popular so featuring on that single might get them noticed, but unfortunately the singer song writer doesn't like the song and they don't really want to sing it but they fear that they won't get another opportunity as good as this,  they then feature on the track regardless. 



I feel that Joe making a deal with the devil is similar to my singer song writer story, this also relates to Patrick in the previous videos where he hears the music, changes and ties to kill his friends he is clearly being manipulated.

 This probably relates to Foxes from the Just One Yesterday video as well, I doubt she actually wanted to set the band up as she tries to crash the van, (to avoid taking Fall Out Boy to Linda vista) and her eyes also change implying that like Patrick she wasn't in control of her body.



The video ends with the double agent standing in front of the evidence board, the camera zooms in on the TV with footage of who again is clearly Courtney Love leading the women as you can see the "Let it Bleed" tattoo on her right arm.

But the again did anyone ever doubt it was Courtney?


The songs meaning is clearly about death, but it's also about life.
The song is like an existential crisis and an angry love song rolled into one, he accepts that one day everyone will die but not right now, all he has is love and even then it doesn't sound like real love.

I guess technically the point of being alive is to better our species and to reproduce so in that respect he sounds like he is looking for love and feeling down about not really finding it. 

It's kind of a sad song really.

The video also seems to have a "why do I exist" kind of message about it too and I think this video sums it up pretty well.

Sometimes you are like Patrick and you don't know why you exist or what you have to live for and sometimes you feel like Andy and there is something in your live you love so you want to exist to enjoy that.

Of course things can get better just as much as they can get worse so no matter how awful you feel you will be happy again one day.

I think the video had a second message however.
This message is related to the celebrity lifestyle theme. 

I do think that Joe dealing with the devil is like a celebrity signing a contract and allowing the contract holder to use their image and talent for what ever they want it for in exchange for money.
  
(I'm starting to move away from the "Videos are different points in their break up" theory because I couldn't see it this video or the previous video. )


Honestly if there is something you think I missed please let me know in the comments.


(P.S well this is embarrassing. I edited this on the 4th of February 2014, I didn't spot the microphone mace and I thought they didn't provide an instrument/weapon purposely, thanks to Caroline Bernardo for pointing it out in the comments.)

Eminem - The Monster (Explicit) ft. Rihanna Music Video analysis

This song is one of those songs that has been in the charts for ages without a video, the single was released in October and the video was released in December.
 I think some artists do this because they are so high profile that either the song is so highly anticipated that it gets released early or because they know the song will sell without the video and then when the video comes out the single sales will be boosted.

This video is pretty cool and it features clips and reconstructions of scenes from past videos and it just really proves how little Eminem has aged.





The video starts with a metronome, a newtons cradle and a heart monitor ticking, clinking and beeping in unison respectively.
This sets the scene to some kind of clinical room with a patient being assessed, in this case a psychiatrist.

Eminems silhouette can be seen sitting on a chair and the silhouette of Rihanna can bee seen walking past, I think silhouettes are used to add mystery and build tension, not that many people would actually watch the video without knowing who's in the video but just in case someone wasn't aware who was in the video this could add a level of mystery to the video but honestly it's pretty obvious who it is.
Maybe that's the point.

The lighting in the psychiatrists room is very dark so maybe the silhouette's are meant to show the darkness, this theory would fit nicely with the lyrics.

Rihanna turns on a Television and it starts with the title card "violence" featuring clips from older Eminem Videos the second card reads "Family" and features some more clips and a snippet of  Lose Yourself
The third is titled "Insanity" and features a snippet of My Name is.
Eminem is seen observing the footage whilst Rihanna is seen observing Eminem.
The fourth card is "Death" and features a clip from The Way I Am video.
The fifth looks at "Fame" featuring the 2001 grammy performance of Stan with Elton John.

 Performing with Elton John would be be a highlight of his career, it also features clips from Stan and clips of his ex wife and daughter which would imply lower points of fame and the effects it had on his marriage.

 The sixth and final is titled "Addiction" and features clips of a music video in which he is portrayed taking pills.

All the cards highlight themes from previous videos, the theme's of the past videos represent different issues in the rappers life, the way in which they were shown in a session with a shrink could potentially highlight how these things have effected him mentally.

The song it's self starts with Rihanna first verse, she stands in a dark warehouse like setting, she wears a tight fitting black dress, a black leather jacket and black lipstick.
Rihanna is known for her change in hairstyles but in this video she has a short black bob, the dark colours alludes to the dark nature of the track.

Eminem gets up out of his chair and the cage doors of a caged lift close around him and he is standing in the lift.

As the lift descends he panics and presses the buttons, this would indicate that he wants to escape the cage lift and pressing buttons  might make it stop.
I think he is trapped in a caged lift because firstly it's a cage (Obviously) when you're in a cage you can see through the bars but you can't get out.

Think about this from a psychological point of view it would imply he feels trapped either mentally or emotionally, (kind of like he is stuck feeling a certain way)  he can see the way out but can't get to it.
The Lift element adds movement, the lift not only moves through the videos literally but it also moves through them from a psychological angle, like the phrase says "the only way out if through".

As the next floor comes into view the scene from the My Name Is video where Eminem is seeing a shrink whilst wearing a straight jacket.

Eminem in the lift looks back at his old self in the straight jacket in disbelief.

The way in which the video was recreated is clever, the scenes had to be recreated to be able to dub the new lyrics in, the shot of Dr Dre was reused from the original but the rest of the scene was re-shot.

Both scenes look very similar (clearly not exactly identical but they are both similar none the less.) It's pretty amazing considering the My Name Is video was released January 1999 which would make it 15 years old it's nearly 16 years old so to be able to recreate the video to this standard is pretty amazing.

This scene represents insanity.


As the lift continues its descent and leaves the My Name Is scene Eminem in the lift is still trying to break out, I would say the reason he wants to break out is because looking at the past videos and what they represent makes him feel uncomfortable.

The scene from Lose your self, the scene where he stands in front of 8 Mile Rd. Mobile Court from the film 8 Mile which starred Eminem.

The film 8 Mile was set in 1995 Detroit and was about a young white rapper trying to launch his career in an industry dominated by black people whilst trying to deal with his personal life.
Including a scene from this video could represent how hard it was for a white rapper to make it into mainstream rap.
This could represent trying to make a name for him self and it represents his family.

As the lift leaves this scene the audio and the images from inside the lift become warped, this fits shrink and patient theme because his thoughts are literally being twisted.

The next video is The Way I am, the scene where Eminem is falling having jumped off a skyscapper, this represents death.
Because the death is suicide that would also imply that he is feeling depressed which also relates back to the shrink theme because they deal with similar problems.

The final video is the footage from the duet with Elton john from the 2001 grammys where they perform Stan.

To get the opportunity to perform with Elton john must have been a great honor simply because he is so well known so I would say this would represent a high point in Eminem's career, this would represent fame.

If you compare the theme of fame with the other themes such as death, insanity and addiction it is clearly something that is much more pleasant in comparison but I suppose that is the sacrifice you have to make when it comes to becoming famous, you might have to put your career first and family second and you might feel depressed and lonely at times but I guess that fame is the reward.

Whether being famous is worth the sacrifice is another thing and I guess it's up to the individual as to whether fame is worth the hassle.

The lift comes to a slow stop to reveal a crate sitting at what looks like the back of some kind of ware house with 2 men heavily armored point guns at the crate.

The cage doors open and Enimen walks up to the crate, as he approaches he noticed a man inside which he realises that it is himself in the crate.

The Eminem in the crate tosses some scraps of paper out of the crate at himself standing outside the crate.

I'm not overly sure as to why there are two Eminem's but I would say the lift is like a metaphor for "going deeper into his psyche" I can't really think of a better way to explain it, I just think that because he started travelling into the lift whilst seeing shrink makes me think this is meant to represent him going back over his problems and working out why he feels that way.

In the end he finally finds out the cause of all his problems is himself, the fact he is locked up and guarded in his own head (if we really were taken though a journey into Eminem's inner most thoughts) would imply that he doesn't like himself or at least that version of himself.

Eminem outside the crate picks up some of the paper scraps and reads them before putting them in his pocket and walking away.

The fact he reads the scraps takes them away would imply that he accepts what the version of himself has to say and if it was advice he would probably take that advice but the fact he doesn't let himself out also implies that he still isn't comfortable or "friends" with that part of himself and wishes for it to remain concealed.

It's really hard to explain but I think I can relate to that, everyone has a part of themselves they don't like and whilst they would rather not acknowledge that part of them it's still there and some times you need to face it or at least acknowledge it's presence to improve as a person.

I think that's the meaning of the video, I think the meaning of the song is pretty similar.

I think the song's meaning is about the conflicting feelings of fame because he just wanted "fame" and he didn't want all the other horrible things that come with it which relates back to the Fame theme in the video where it was the only positive out of all the other negative themes.

Not to Love You V's Got 2 Luv U

Today I'm not posting an analysis of a music video, instead I'll be comparing the demo version of this song with the final version of this song.

This is a a very important topic for me because I am unhappy about what happened to this song, the demo was written by singer/song writer Ryan Tedder and then the production of the song was handed over to Jamaican artist Sean Paul and Norwegian producing duo Stargate.

Almost all the lyrics and the meaning of the song were completely changed.

If you read my blog regularly you will find out that I am a big Ryan Tedder/OneRepublic fan and honestly (if you are a regular) you are probably sick really of me talking about Ryan Tedder but my problem with the lyrical adjustments isn't really about Tedder at all, my issue with this song is to do with the way in which women are portrayed in the lyrics.

I wouldn't call myself a Feminist, I'm honestly not bothered that there are more men on bank notes or that the older Disney films like snow white and the seven dwarfs or sleeping beauty are about women who wait to be rescued by men kind of feminism.

I care about the kind of feminism where women are judged by how they dress or how they act, how a women dresses or acts is often used as defense in court for rape allegations and I think that's wrong because the way a women dresses or even if a women is promiscuous it doesn't mean she wants sex with just anyone no should mean no.

Another thing that bothers me is the way women are objectified in both music and in music videos, people argue that it sells more singles but honestly there are plenty of songs that even today aren't about sex or feature naked women (or men for that matter) that sell lots of singles and even make it to number 1.

The biggest problem with this song isn't actually about the sex, I don't mind songs about sex but it's the fact that the demo was about how a women has had enough of her partner (the man sounds slightly controlling.) and the lyrics describe her breaking up with him and the song was changed into a song about how a man really wants sex with a girl and the girl is besotted with him.

I wouldn't really mind as much if it weren't for the fact the girl seemed to think the man was "the one" and the man just seems to just want sex.



I wouldn't be so bothered if say the woman sounded like she just wanted sex like the man or if the man sounded like he was in love like the woman but both people contradict the other and it sounds a little weird.
The video would also imply that he is just interested in sex by the way he watches the the pole dancers and goes off yo rooms and the multistory car park with women whilst the female singer stays in what looks like a hotel room and performs on a stage.

If you compare that song with the original demo:




If we compare some of the lyrics on the final version with the equivalent lyrics from the Demo it looks something like this :

Final version lyrics 

I, I'll do anything I could for ya
Boy you're my only
I, I'm gonna flip the script on ya
You don't even know me
Cause I, I... I don't even want to fight, fight, fight
Said I, I... I ain't even gonna fight it

If you were the sun,
Got me spinnin', in your orbit
With no where to run
Boy you got me, can't ignore it...

demo version lyrics

now i won't say its been nice to know ya
cos you don't even know me
i don't wanna spit this bill i wrote ya
and you ain't gotta owe me
because i wanna know what it's like (like, like, like)

i'm out the sun
i've been spinning in your orbit
with nowhere to run when you burn me i just ignore it


The tone of both songs are completely different, most of the verses are completely replaced, the way the woman is portrayed in the final version is so different to how she was originally portrayed, the demo sounds angry, confident and full of hate whilst in the final version she comes across as love sick.

I really want to know why the lyrics were changed so much, maybe the producers didn't want such an angry song but then if they didn't like the way it sounded why buy it?
On the subject of feminism why would you change the meaning of the females lyrics, if they wanted to add male rap to the song why did they change the female lyrics?
They made the woman sound like her purpose was to please and stoke a mans ego and that she shouldn't expect it in return.

I just really hate the message of this song when originally the message was that women shouldn't have to put up with that.

This really makes me question the whole production process after the demo was sent, they could argue the song was a feminist movement to highlight how that kind of attitude is wrong but if it was it isn't very clear and I doubt that's the case.

I would hate to think that the producers purposely changed it because they thought that it wouldn't appeal to a male audience or it won't sell singles or something like that because that would be sad.

I hope the change was to do with introducing a rapper to the song and he wrote his own rap so they changed the other lyrics to fit.

I think what happened to this song is such a shame, I think it would've been so much better if cut the rap, stuck to the demo and found a great female vocalist, What do you think? 

Do you like Got 2 Luv U? 
Did you used to like the song?
 (I'm going to be honest, I didn't particularly like or dislike the song until I heard what the demo was like.)
Maybe never liked it?
Or maybe you have a counter argument or a view you would like to share, I'm open for discussion.