Introduction“Blame it on 2009: A Good Good Year” is

just one of the many AMVs that float around the popular video streaming website YouTube. AMV is an acronym for anime music video, and it refers to the concept of taking Japanese anime and re-cutting it to fit a different tract of music than what it was originally aired with. What about this particular video makes it unique and different from the very common genre of AMV? The key difference is the fact that “Blame it on 2009” was designed by three separate people.

The music track used in this video is in fact an audio remix created by Jordan Roseman (aka DJ Earworm), a freelance DJ and mashup artist based out of San Francisco (D). In 2007, Roseman took the top 25 songs (according to “Billboard” magazine’s Hot 100) and used acapella versions to create an entirely new set of melody and lyrics, which was then posted to his official website (D).

Thus, the widely popular “United State of Pop” series

was born. Roseman continues to create a new song from the top 25 hits of the year each year, but the one used in “Blame it on 2009” was “United State of Pop 2009: Blame it on the Pop,” hence the title. Roseman also created a video of “Blame it on the Pop” (H) using the music videos from the original artists. This video, while interesting and handy as a “map” of which pieces came from where, was not used at all in the AMV itself.

Familiar phrases and lyrics jump out as you listen to the song and read the lyrics (see Index 1), but the concept behind the verses and chorus may be somewhat different from the original sources. This is because Roseman gauges the general atmosphere of the top 25 songs and creates his remix accordingly (A). For 2009, he says “This year in the charts, so many of the pop songs this year seem to tell the same story: Yeah,

Remixing with a Remix: Analysis of Blame it on 2009

By Arielle GlaspieENGL 357 - Darren Zufelt

we’ve been through a lot, but right now we’re gonna celebrate with music and dance, and it’s gonna be ok” (H).

But Roseman is only one of three authors. His music was utilized as part of the AMV, but the visual sequences of the video were created by AnimeMusicVideo.org users Kitsuner and Ileia. Sadly, their real names are not known, but we can no less appreciate the work they put into “Blame it on 2009.” In addition to having DJ Earworm’s remix of the top 25 songs of 2009, Kitsuner and Ileia used 26 anime movies or series that were also aired in 2009 as the visual source for their AMV (see Index 2). They basically used an audio remix to visually remix these animes. This idea is an original and exciting concept, and one that I wish to take a closer look at. As Marshall McLuhan and Fiore Quentin say in their book “The Medium is the Massage,” “The extension of any one sense alters the way we think and act – the way we perceive the world” (E, 41).

Formal AnalysisI will be using concepts and ideas from

Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art,” as well as National Geographic’s “Complete Photography,” and McLuhan and Quentin’s “The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects” to study this remixed remix.

Closure, Transition, and Pace

McCloud uses the term closure to describe what happens in between comic panels, a bare minimalistic space known as the gutter (G, 66). He claims that “every act committed to paper by the comics artist is aided and abetted by a silent accomplice. An equal partner in crime known as the reader” (G, 68). Now, I know what you’re thinking – “Reading comics is not the same as watching a video!” But in fact, anime is only a televised representation of manga, the Japanese version of comics. Reading and watching are both visually-stimulating actions, so it makes sense that I could objectively apply closure to “Blame it on 2009.” However, in the video industry, closure is more commonly known as transition.

Regardless of the specific term used, we can still apply McCloud’s theories about closure to “Blame it on 2009.” While McCloud describes six different types of closures, the one applicable here is subject-to-subject. This is where the images, in this case the video clips chosen by the artists, take the viewer “from subject-to-subject while staying within a scene or idea” (G, 71). Kitsuner and Ileia avoid using flashy effects or PowerPoint-type transitions and instead use speed and timing to match the video to the music in order to include a wide range of animes, each with its own separate storyline, but still remain inside the main idea behind Roseman’s original song – surviving through bad times to celebrate and get back up at the end of the day.

Word/Picture Combination

One of the fascinating things about “Blame it on 2009” is that is it combines both visual and auditory senses. Since this AMV contains no printed lettering, “word” here means an auditory or spoken word instead of a visual or transcribed word.

McLuhan and Quentin explain that “where a visual space is an organized continuum of a uniformed connected kind, the ear world is a world of simultaneous relationships” (E). Kitsuner and Ileia used this concept in several ways. First, by picking Roseman’s remix as their auditory source, Kitsuner and Ileia very effectively incorporated the technique Roseman uses in his songs – that of gradually layer[ing] song samples over each other, which add[s] texture and builds momentum” (H). Roseman’s audio layering creates simultaneous relationships between the viewer’s ears and the words and melody of his remixed music. Kitsuner and Ileia then took short visual snippets from the chosen anime and placed them into a sequence of connected clips, or “an organized continuum of a uniformed connected kind” (E). This is especially apparent while material used for a remix video is being edited. Movie editing programs provide a specific linear space in which the artists can string together their related clips.

McCloud introduces seven types of word/picture relationships in “Understanding Comics,” although three of which could be associated or utilized by “Blame it on 2009.” The first of these is duo-specific, where “words and

pictures send essentially the same message” (G, 153). It is true that in Kitsuner and Ileia’s AMV, the images are tailored to specifically fit with the words of Roseman’s song. However, it is only when viewed together that this word/picture combination can be used. The lyrics, if listened to or read on their own, will still be able to convey the same message as “Blame it on 2009,” but if the anime images were to be displayed on their own, with no sound, viewers would be hard pressed to be able to decipher any message.

The second word/picture relationship applicable to “Blame it on 2009” is that of interdependence. In interdependent associations, “words and pictures go hand in hand to convey an idea that neither could convey alone” (G, 155). But we can already see that this word/picture relationship cannon be applied here. As I stated in the previous paragraph, the lyrics of “Blame it on 2009” are able to convey the artist’s message even if the images were not used.

The third, and in my opinion most accurate, word picture relationship that we can apply is additive combination. McCloud defines this as situations “where words amplify or elaborate on an image or vice versa” (G, 154). The music bolsters and makes identifiable the message Kitsuner and Ileia instilled in “Blame it on 2009” with their specific image choices. Likewise, the anime clips harmonize with and embellish the lyrics. Both work with one another to double dose the viewer to the artists’ message.

TransformationMany AMV creators choose to transform

the original anime image by using editing programs to add color or different views and transitions. This can serve to dazzle viewers with complex and entertaining lightshows, but if used too extensively, it can also detract from the overall purpose. It’s like having too many colors on the same page – viewers will only see the overall or dominant element, in this case, the transitions and effects added by the AMV artist, instead of any color, theme or storyline that was the artist’s original intent.

Kitsuner and Ileia’s use of visual transformation (making the anime clips used different from the original version) is very mild. They use no transitions between each clip, but instead use the music to catapult viewers through a sometimes dizzying array of images that were chosen to match the lyrics. For example, when “Blame it on the Pop” repeats the line “I know you want pop,” Kitsuner and Ileia spliced in an image of soda pop. And when the stanza repeat “down, down, down,” they inserted three different scenes of anime characters falling or being pushed to the ground.

Kitsuner and Ileia avoid effects and effect-transition completely, but instead use fast-paced momentum to firmly lash the clips to the music and take the viewer along for the ride. It is a minimalistic approach, but as McCloud says in Understanding Comics, “the mastery of any

medium using minimal elements has long been considered a noble aspiration” (G, 83).

Content AnalysisAlthough AMVs are most commonly used

for entertainment purposes, they can still be used for more serious purposes. This is especially applicable to “Blame it on 2009” as Kitsuner and Ileia used Roseman’s auditory message (his remixed song) as part of their visual message (their remixed animes). Here I will discuss the concepts of idiom, copyright, and ethos, pathos, and logos and how they can be applied to the content of “Blame it on 2009.”

IdiomAn idiom is an expression or saying that

describes the general purpose or format of a remix. “Blame it on 2009” is unique in that it has two separate idioms as well as three separate artists. Two of the artist’s purpose was to create a lively AMV, for entertainment and to further extol the previously explained message instilled in Roseman’s song. Roseman’s approach to his song “Blame it on the Pop” could almost be described as experimental. He was trying to compose his music in such a way that an entirely new song was create from 25 other songs, yet it still withheld the general idea of all 25 songs. That “yeah, we’ve been through a lot, but right now we’re gonna celebrate with music and dance,

and it’s gonna be ok” (H) would still be conveyed to the listeners.

CopyrightCopyright laws and infringement have

always been a part of remixing. The very nature of remixing, that of taking a pre-existing piece of someone else’s work and revamping it into a new format, almost demands a safeguard to ensure that plagiarism does not spin out of control.

Many call remixing outright stealing, but I disagree. I used the word plagiarism here for a specific reason. Plagiarism commonly refers to taking someone else’s work, say a song or scientific paper, and claiming it as your own with no alterations or attempts to properly cite or quote. But by its very definition, remixing, unless done extremely poorly, can never fall under this description of plagiarism. Many remixers openly list their original sources (see Index 3 for the list of sources Roseman used to create “Blame it on the Pop”), and in a fair amount of cases, the original work cannot be recognized when it is placed within the remix, either because the remixer used such a small part or because the remixer used the lyrics or melody in a different way than it was originally presented.

“Blame it on 2009” does not fall under either of these categories. Roseman’s use of extremely popular songs almost ensures that a great many people will recognize snippets of the lyrics, such as “when you go down, when you go down down,” “po-po-po-po-poker face,” and

“boom boom pow.” Likewise, Kitsuner and Ileia’s use of popular anime almost guarantees that anyone who has previously viewed these anime will be able to recognize the distinctive characters that star in the show. But in their particular case, since Roseman is himself a remixer, I doubt he will sue them for copyright infringement.

The main idea behind copyright guidelines is to protect against remix artists “stealing” money from the original artists by making a more popular version of the original song. The theory behind copyright is to basically give credit where credit is due. National Geographic contributes to this idea by saying that “the guidelines create a solid foundation to fall back on when there is uncertainty, but when we start allowing guidelines to rule every decision, our images themselves can become predictable” (C, 108). If we want our range and diversity of art to remain fresh and stimulating and inspiring, we must make exceptions to strict copyright laws, especially when the remixer’s intention is, not to make money, but to make art.

Ethos, Pathos, LogosAlthough many people think of remixes as

pure entertainment, many artists use remixing to persuade viewers, either to see things in a new light or even for a political or cultural purpose. According to McLuhan and Quentin, “we have now become aware of the possibility of arranging the entire human environment as a work of art,

as a teaching machine designed to maximize perception and to make everyday learning a process of discovery” (E, 68). Ethos, pathos, and logos is the creator using ethics, emotion, and/or logic respectively to sway the audience in one way or another. With this definition in hand, we can safely say that “Blame it on 2009” is not a huge work of persuasion. It is partly a piece of entertainment, but viewers can still take away a primary message – that of being at the short end of the stick, yet maintaining enough to bounce back and celebrate the life and love you have. So while ethos, pathos, and logos do not have a large part in this particular remix, they can and could still be used by other remix artists to persuade viewer’s perspective.

Evaluation of Purpose“Humor as a system of communications and

as a probe of our environment – of what’s really going on…” (E, 92) is, and always has been, a very effective teaching tool. Educators know from experience that students are more apt to remember information if it’s presented in an entertaining, interesting, or humorous way. McLuhan and Fiore also allude to this by mentioning how poems and rhymes were used by the Greeks in order to remember vast amounts of oral history and information.

If viewers were to look at “Blame it on 2009” with a very basic or brief understanding, many of them would just assume it was created

for entertainment. This seems to be backed up by video clips that show the line “symphonic soul” being sung over a picture of an anime character pointing at his toe. The sound of the word “soul” as it is sung in Roseman’s remix does indeed sound a lot like “toe”. This is clearly humor on the part of the AMV editors, but is also, in fact, only a very shallow look at its surface.

“Older societies thrived on purely literary plots. They demanded story lines. Today’s humor, on the contrary, has no story line – no sequence. It is usually a compressed overlay of stories.” (E, 92) A compressed overlay of stories is exactly what remixing anime into AMVs is all about. It is also the tool chosen by two very talented remixers in order to reiterate the purpose of Roseman’s remix – that sometimes, you are going to go down. But the beauty of finally reaching the ground is that you can pick yourself back up, stand on your feet, and be able to celebrate life’s good times along with the bad. And we owe all this to pop, dance, and rock and roll.

Works CitedAnalyzed Video URL: “Blame it on 2009: A Good Good Year.” HeardYouLikeAMVs. YouTube. Retrieved 15 MAR 14 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYHtcH5lRDw.

Reference Sources:

A. “About DJ Earworm.” DJ Earworm. Retrieved 8 APR 14 from http://djearworm.com/about .

B. “Blame It on 2009: A Good Good Year Video Information.” AnimeMusicVideo.org. Retrieved 8 APR 14 from http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_videoinfo.php?v=179057 .

C. “Complete Photography.” National Geographic. National Geographic Society. 2011. Washington DC.

D. “DJ Earworm.” Wikipedia. Retrieved 8 APR 14 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Earworm .

E. “The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects.” McLuhan, Marshall and Quentin, Fiore. Gingko Press Inc. 2001. Berkeley, CA.

F. “DJ Earworm – United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on The Pop) Lyrics.” Let’s Sing It – Your Favorite Music Community. Retrieved 8 APR 14 from: http://artists.letssingit.com/dj-earworm-lyrics-united-state-of-pop-2009-blame-it-on-the-pop-t7n19ml#ixzz2yW3VOPEO .

G. “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.” McCloud, Scott. Harper Collins Publisher. 1993. NY, NY.

H. “United State of Pop 2009.” DJ Earworm. Retrieved 8 APR 14 from http://djearworm.com/united-state-of-pop-2009-blame-it-on-the-pop.

I ndex 1: Lyrics for “Blame It on the Pop” (F)

I know you want pop, you want dance, you want rock and rollYou wanted boom boom? This year's remix got symphonic soulI got pop, I got dance, I got rockin' electronic club beats,I got hip-hop music with the future flow

So don't worry, even if the sky is falling down, down, downGonna be ok when it knocks you down, down, down,So baby don't worry, it's alright, a-alright when it knocks you downWhen you go down, when you go down downNo need to worry, just get back up when you're tumbling down,down, down (down, down)

It's like I've been awakenedEvery step I'm takingEvery rule I had you breakingEvery move I'm makingThe risk that I'm takingThe chances I'm takingWith a big smile on my faceAnd it never seems out of place

Blame it on the pop, blame it on the dance, blame it on the rock and rollBlame it on the rumba, so in sync with the symphonic soulI like that pop, I like that bass,I like them rockin' electronic club beatsBlame it on the hip-hop music with the future flow

Baby, don't worry, it's alright, a-alright when it knocks you downSomewhere far along this road,Stressed out, I wanna let it go, I feel down, down, down(baby are you down, down, down, down, down)

And oh, (hey) I've been traveling on this road too long (too long)Just trying to find my way back home (back home)The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone

I gotta feelingWoo hooI found God

Blame it on the pop, blame it on the dance, blame it on the rock and rollBlame it on the feeling of the music deep insi-i-i-ide your soulWe got the pop, we got the dance,we got the rockin' electronic club beatsWe got the hip-hop music with the future flow

I ndex 1 cont:

People in the placePut your put your hands in the airNow put your hands up, oh, oh, oh, oh, ohForever united here,Blame it on the po-po-po-po-poker face po-po-poker face

So live your life (hey!)Let's live it up (Ho!)If you wanna get down (Hey!)down (Ho!) down (Hey!)Muh muh muh muh (Ho!)I wanna get down, (hey!) down, down (Ho!)

So baby, don't worry, it's alright, a-alright when it knocks you downWhen you go down, when you go down downNo need to worry, just pick back up when you're tumbling down,

down, down (down, down)

Blame it on the pop, blame it on the dance,blame it on the boom boom boomGotta get that rumba, blame it on the 808 with the boom boom boomGotta get that pop, gotta get that dance, gotta get that boom boom powI gotta get, I gotta get this year's remix with the future sound.

I gotta feeling,But I never really had a doubt,that tonight's gonna be a good night,that tonight's gonna be a good night,and I say the same thing every single time

You know that I could use somebody, (woo hoo)Open up your plans and damn your free (Hey!)Look into your heart and you'll find love, love, loveStop stop stop feeling down, down, downCan't you see love, love love?Isn't this easy feeling love, love love?Down down down,

It's like I've been awakenedCan't you see every step I'm takingDon't be afraidThe risk that I'm takingCan't you see, I've had a little too much feeling down, down, down

Can't you see every move I'm makingEvery rule I had you breakingIsn't this easy feeling love, love, loveWe'll make it out of this mess.Change your mindBaby just say yes,Da da da da da da da da da da…

Glaspie 10

Index 2: Songs Used for Audio Remix (H)

The Black Eyed Peas – BOOM BOOM POWLady Gaga – POKER FACELady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis – JUST DANCEThe Black Eyed Peas – I GOTTA FEELINGTaylor Swift – LOVE STORYFlo Rida – RIGHT ROUNDJason Mraz – I’M YOURSBeyonce – SINGLE LADIES (PUT A RING ON IT)Kanye West – HEARTLESSThe All-American Rejects – GIVES YOU HELLTaylor Swift – YOU BELONG WITH MET.I. Featuring Justin Timberlake – DEAD AND GONEThe Fray – YOU FOUND MEKings Of Leon – USE SOMEBODYKeri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo – KNOCK YOU DOWNJamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain – BLAME ITPitbull – I KNOW YOU WANT ME (CALLE OCHO)T.I. Featuring Rihanna – LIVE YOUR LIFESoulja Boy Tell ‘em Featuring Sammie – KISS ME THRU THE PHONEJay Sean Featuring Lil Wayne – DOWNMiley Cyrus – THE CLIMBDrake – BEST I EVER HADKelly Clarkson – MY LIFE WOULD SUCK WITHOUT YOU

Index 1: Anime Used for Visual Remix (B)

Magenta = video edited by IleiaDark Blue = video edited by

Kitsuner

A Certain Scientific RailgunBakemonogatariCanaanCencorollChi’s New AddressClanned After StoryDarker Than Black: Gemini of the MeteorEden of the EastEvangelion 2.0: You Can Not AdvanceFullmetal Alchemist: BrotherhoodHayate the Combat ButlerHetalia: Axis PowersK On!Kara No Kyoukai: A Study in Murder Part 2Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective ConanMaho Sensei Negima!: Mo Hitotsu No SekaiMaria + HolicThe Melancholy of Haruhi SuzumiyaMuntoPokemon: Arceus and the Jewel of LifeRidebackSaki