Sunday, September 21, 2008

Blog Post 4

"Move Along," a song by the All American Rejects sends a powerful message to its listeners. It talks of "losing yourself completely" but still getting up everday and moving along. When paired with the this video, the combination of genres makes it unforgettable. It does this in many ways.



When the song starts off the music and lyrics are paired with images of an unhappy person at different places. He is at work getting yelled at, a doctor with no purpose, and a man in an unhappy marriage. These images emphasize the real meaning of the lyrics. The monotonous look on the man's face also balances out with the quick-paced song.

There are many symbolic things as the video progresses. To show how unhappy the married man is, the video shows him sitting home alone with a wine glass. The camera angle makes the wine glass seem much bigger than it really is. The effect of the glass being big is symbolic of having to drink a lot, a habit that is picked up often by people who are depressed or whose lives aren't going well. Another part that is symbolic is the random images that appear during the verses. A picture of a phone off the hook, for example, shows that a person might be feeling so overwhelmed or swamped and is just having a really hard time.

This brings the video to the chorus. During the chorus the makers of the video used a really cool technique. The images flash quickly with the speed of the percussion beat in the background of the music. This is not only cool to look at but gives the lyrics "move along" in the chorus meaning when the pictures are "moving along."

Finally the song comes to the bridge, and the point of the song is realized. It shows the upset man falling backwards off the diving board into an empty pool, almost as if he has given up; however, the makers of the video then cut to a scene of him falling into a sea of hands, and save him. He gets up and performs the heck out of the rest of the song, which helped to emphasize its main theme since he got over his sadness.

No comments: