Textual Analysis of Florence + the Machine’s music

video“Dog Days Are Over”

Florence + The Machine

The music video I am analysing is of the song “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence + the Machine.

Florence is a unique artist considered to be a part of the indie, soul and rock genres. Normally an artist like Florence would have a niche audience into more alternative styles however her music’s popularity and individuality has led her to make her way into the mainstream.

Lyrics and visualsThe visuals don’t always match the lyrics within this video as the images shown often to appear to be quite random however Florence does this quite often where her videos are interpretive and do not show a clear meaning to the song. Being an alternative and different artist this matches Florence’s style as she doesn't like to have her videos to be plain and simple to understand and wants the viewers to think. Her videos are very artistic.An example of the visuals not matching the lyrics directly and being more interpretive is how at the beginning of the music video the lyrics are “Happiness hit her like a train on a track”Rather than simply showing a train on a track like a video that is more visually illustrative would, the video shows Florence laid in a woodland setting where a woman who looks quite wild (her hair is messy and she moves around in a very animalistic manner however she is wearing a type of ball gown which also adds to the confusion of the video and makes it seem more intriguing)blindfolds her. This makes the viewers think more and be interested to discover what is happening in the video. The blindfolding could be interpreted and be linked to the lyrics like as when someone is hit by a “train on a track” they would be unaware that a train was coming, similar to how Florence is blind folded and is unaware of where she is going and what's coming towards her. The event that brought “Happiness” to her was unexpected and hit her like a “train on a track”

There is only one small part of the video where Florence is shown lip syncing and the rest of it is mainly narrative and telling a story.

Some parts of the lyrics are matched by the visuals with the movements of Florence and the other actors as well as the camera angles and movements within the video.The editing is very fast paced and the cuts that are made are perfectly timed.

• An example of this would be how when the lyrics say “Coming towards her”

Florence is shown being led through the forest with the wild looking woman and the camera angle makes the viewer feel as if Florence is walking towards them. This is also could hint that she is walking towards the happiness previously mentioned.

• There is a fast spinning panning camera movement of some of the actors dressed in crazy clown like costumes when the lyrics say “ No turning back”

This shows how Florence can’t turn back and that the clown like people surrounding her won’t allow her to. Again although the visuals match the lyrics slightly here it still is unclear the meaning of the lyrics and what the video is trying to show, adding to the whimsical feel of the video and representing Florence’s individual style even more.

• Florence continues singing and visuals are shown of the clown people acting strange and standing around in the forest making movements similar to instruments with things such as twigs etc. The lyrics again seem to match the visuals in no way and back up the idea of the video being more focused on Florence’s own artistic vision and leaving it up to the viewers to interpret their meaning of the song.

Lyrics and visuals

• When the chorus begins and says “the dog days are over” Florence matches the lyrics by removing her blindfold representing that the time of wearing the blind fold “the dog days” are now over.

• When the lyrics say “So you better run” the visuals match the lyrics as Florence begins to run away from the clown like people.

• In conclusion to if the visuals match the lyrics it is evident that some of the visuals match the lyrics but mainly by lyrics that are talking about movements such as “run” “coming towards her” “no turning back” these still don’t explain the meaning of the song and video and the majority of the visuals are for interpretation and do not tell the viewer what is going on. This makes the video have a very dream like and whimsical look and vibe, a vibe that is very good for representing Florence’s individual style.

Going into deeper analysis of the song title and it’s lyrics, the “Dog Days Are Over” is a phrase that is used to describe the hot days of summer. The visuals of Florence running away from the clown like people could be showing how she is running away from the festivities of summer such as festivals, holidays and parties and returning to the normalities of life such as work etc. Although the lyrics of the song still do not describe it’s full meaning nor do the visuals which again reinforces the idea of Florence wanting her fans to interpret their own meaning and connect to the song in many different ways.

Music and Visuals Although the lyrics are not always matched by the visuals, the beat and

sound of the music always is within this video. Here are some examples of the music and visuals being heavily linked together.

At the beginning of the video the beat is much slower than the rest of the song and the music has a very calm and soothing sound. This is matched by the visuals as during this part of the song Florence is walking much slower and her acting shows that she is wondering where she is going and her uncertainty which also goes along with the slow beat.

Building up to the chorus the beat begins to gradually become faster and percussion instruments begin playing. This is represented by the visuals as when the beat gets faster there is quick cuts showing a different clown looking actor within the video matching the speed and the beat as well as the actors begin to hold things such as twigs and begin move them similar to how some instruments would be moved to match the percussion sounding instruments and look as if they are creating the sound.

When the chorus begins the beat is very fast and the visuals match this by showing Florence and clown like people running

As the lyrics of the chorus begin to be sung faster “run FAST for your mother, run FAST for your father…” Florence begins to run faster and faster and sometimes when the beat cuts particularly when Florence says “run” the video cuts to between shots of Florence and shots of the clown people chasing her.

There is a part of the song just after the very fast chorus where the beat completely stops for a second and afterwards the beat is slow and begins to build up again gradually.

When the beat completely stops the visuals match this perfectly by showing Florence fall over, as soon as she hits the ground, the beat stops. This is a very effective and suspenseful technique and is very good for keeping the viewer interested and to continue watching.

As the music slowly begins again, the clown people are shown surrounding Florence and appear to be dressing her up like them while she is laying down and appearing to be unconscious by the fall and unaware of what's going on.

When the beat begins to kick in fast again there is a cut to Florence finally doing a small bit of lip syncing to the lyrics and appears to be dressed like the clown people.

The chorus then begins again and everybody seems to be dancing crazily to match the fast beat of the song. It looks chaotic.

The record company are looking to sell this track by promoting Florence + the Machine’s individuality as an artist by making the video look very alternative and very far from the stereotypical mainstream video.

They do this by making the video have a very whimsical and dream like look to it, all the extras in the video are dressed very peculiar and this will gain the audience’s interest to discover what is really happening within this very crazy looking video. This will also gain Florence’s target audience who typically would be into alternative looking videos and music outside of the mainstream however due to her high level of individuality, Florence has gained popularity with a mainstream audience as well as a more niche audience.

The record company promote Florence throughout this video by making the whole story about her journey throughout the woodland area and encountering these strange looking people within it. They make the majority of the viewers attention go to her by showing many shots of her such as close ups other than when the other actors are shown within the video to create more of a narrative but the focus of attention for the most of the video.

Florence is in no way on sexual display in this video.

Florence is shown wearing clothing very different to the artists within the mainstream as she is wearing a tuxedo, something that is typically worn by a male. Due to it being a masculine costume to wear, it will not appear to be “sexy” to the audience and looks very modest.

The clown like costume she wears later on in the video, again has no sexual reference as she is completely covered and the fact that it is similar something that a clown would wear, makes it not come across as very sexual to the audience as clowns are often the opposite of this.

The fact that Florence’s clothing is very different and in no way sexual is important for promoting her as an artist. It shows that unlike most mainstream artists such as Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears who often dress quite explicit in their music videos and performances to attract an audience (especially the male audience) Florence doesn't feel the need to do this and wants her audience to appreciate her music and her individuality rather than be her fans because she dresses in a explicit way. It reinforces the idea that her music and style is all about art and wanting people to accept her individuality and who she is. Dressing in this way is also a very good promotion technique for attracting her target audience who are generally more interested in how unique her music is rather than the way she looks.

There is no references of looking within screens, mirrors and binoculars within the video.

Florence always wear clothing different from the mainstream in her videos and are all modest looking.

Here are two examples from her other videos of this.

This one is from her music video for the song “Cosmic Love”

This one is from the her music video for “ Sweet Nothing” feat Calvin Harris.

Like the music video for “Dog Days are Over” when Florence is wearing a tuxedo, these two costumes are very similar and are both androgynous like the tuxedo.In the “Sweet Nothing” music video she is not only wearing a suit but has also got her hair in a masculine style. This reinforces the idea that she does not want to be seen in a sexual way and just wants the art of her music and individuality to be appreciated.She does wear more feminine (but still very modest) clothing in some of her videos but these are just two examples how she has this very unique style for a female artist throughout many of her videos.

This one is from her music video for the song “Rabbit Heart (Raise it up)”

This one is from her music video for the song “Spectrum”

Like at the end of the “Dog Days Are Over” Many of Florence’s other videos have dance routines and many dancers within them. The style of the dancing is often very wild and unique looking and shows Florence’s free and artistic style, a style that attracts many of her fans.• Below are two examples.

Overall…

The “Dog Days Are Over” music video uses many different techniques to represent and promote Florence+ The Machine’s very unique style. It is consistent to her style in her other videos and has a very free whimsical and slightly crazy look to it that will gain the viewers interest and show how alternative Florence is an artist.

The editing in this video is perfectly timed with the pace of the music such as cutting to different actors every time the beat changes. This makes it visually appealing and keeps the viewer watching to see what is going to happen.

This video doesn't have a clear storyline to follow and is mainly focused on being interpretive for the viewer to interpret their own meaning to it and for showing Florence’s style.