Textual Analysis Of A Music Video

The music video I have analysed is Love story by Taylor Swift. The genre that this belongs to is country music and it is a referencing type, in which she is referencing William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

The lyrics match the visuals of the music video, as the lyrics give off slow, happy and pleasant conventions, which match the heart-warming feel of the visuals. Both the lyrics and the visuals are made to put the viewer in a comfortable and, overall, good place. The video matches the beat of the music. This is clearly seen through the pace of the action increasing when the chorus hits. Granted, the chorus is not extremely fast but it is at a more excited pace than the rest of the song, and this is emphasised through the dancing and such that occurs at the specific time.

There are close ups of Taylor Swift, highlighting her beauty and elegance in her Shakespearian themed attire, and the close ups with the man who she is referencing in the song to show their relationship with eachother. The video relates to a lot of Taylor’s previous videos with most, if not all, being based on love, heartbreak and relationships. She has quite a few pleasant and romantic seeming videos which can coincide with this video.

Surprisingly, as well as not so surprisingly, the artist is not on sexual display. Usually, female artists pose as nude and seductive in hope of attracting a larger audience and it is the stereotype for attractive female popstars. However, Taylor by no means follows this stereotype as she has this image of being innocent and pure, which is highlighted in this music video through the elegance and beauty on display while being fully covered up. The costume is hardly revealing and the dance present in the video is quite romantic and old-fashioned as oppose to lustful and promiscuous.

To conclude, the video and song in general, references the play of Romeo and Juliet through the lyrics, setting and costume. It is hugely narrative based as it tells a story with the artist being present within the video and playing the role of the key character.