textual analysis of the calling wherever you will go

1. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
‘WHEREVER YOU WILL GO’
BY THE CALLING

2. I decided to do a textual analysis of wherever you will go as the song is sung by the
same artist who’s song I chose to do for my music video.
The calling are an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California.
The music video uses a mixture of narrative and performance throughout though
the artist is not part of the narrative. The girl gets a tattoo of her boyfriends name
but when she returns home she sees him in bed with another women, the girl then
proceeds to smash the living room up and you see close up’s of the artists faces to
show the passion in their face as they sing the song. The girl then moves on with
her life without the boy and meets a new boy, the guy from the tattoo shop and
her old boyfriend watches her and her new boyfriend from his car. The song is
passionate and people can relate to it with many different experiences, for
example in the video the girl sees her boyfriend cheating so that could be one
reason why people relate to the song, break-ups but the song was actually written
about a man who died and his wife of over 50 years was left hear-broken so 2,
death and therefore many people can relate to it. The performance part of this
song is separate from the narrative as the artist is not part of the actual narrative.

3. LANGUAGE
 The song talks about heartbreak, something most people in the world can relate
to, whether it is the loss of someone from them passing away or a break-up.
 The song was written by Aaron Kamin, he wrote this song about his cousin who
passed away. His cousin and his cousins wife had been married for over 50 years
and he just wanted to put himself in her shoes, losing someone after being
together for so long.
 Kamin also refers to the September 11 attacks that occurred only a few months
after the song's release. He said that the song has "become more relevant in our
lives as the world has changed recently. It's been rekindled even more so for us, I
think, right about now.
 A deep understanding can be taken from the lyrics because everyone knows
someone who has passed away or have lost someone close to them in some
kind of way.
 The song has a strong beat showing that people need to remain strong through
the hard times.

4. IDEOLOGY
 The ideology promotes the values and beliefs of the
band.
 The band could be seen as rebellious as the characters in
the video have tattoos and long hair, this goes against
the norms and values of society.
 Another reason why the band could be seen as
rebellious is because the location is set in an almost
empty canal that is covered in graffiti, a place where
most ‘normal’ people would not go as it is dirty and seen
as a place where delinquents go to hang out and break
the law such as grafting.
 The ideology of the video also shows the audience that
you can not trust everyone, even people you love as the
girls boyfriend is cheating on her with another girl.

5. INSTITUTION
 The label that the band is signed to is RCA records. RCA
Records is an American flagship recording label (alongside
Columbia Records and Epic Records) of Sony Music
Entertainment. RCA saw continued success with artists such
as Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews Band, the Foo
Fighters and Kings of Leon.
 Early in the 1990’s the label became part of the RCA Music
Group which also included Arista Records and J Records. The
company was headed by Clive Davis until April 2008.
 Clive Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record
producer and music industry executive. He has won five
Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame as a non-performer.
 In 2004, BMG and Sony merged their music holdings into a
joint venture called Sony BMG.

6. AUDIENCE
 The audience of the music video is statistically young
people as more younger people watch music video’s
than older.
 The band is classed as alternative rock and statistically
most alternative rock fans are white, male, aged
between 16 and 25 and therefore are mainly students.

7. REPRESENTATION
 The music video was created to sell the song as well
as show the audience who the artist is and essentially
sell the artist too as all the band members are in the
video at some point. The band members are not part
of the narrative.
 The video is shot in darker lighting, representing the
video and song to be sad as something terrible might
happen.
 The artist is represented as confident because they
stand strait and look intensely at the camera.
 The video is represented as rebellious as the
characters are covered in tattoos and the main
characters boyfriend is cheating on her with another
woman.

8. CINEMATOGRAPHY
 The lighting in the video is dark showing the
audience that the song is sad and something bad
has happened.
 The close-ups show the emotion on the lead singers
face as he sings the song in the performance
element of the video. The close-ups are also used to
emphasise the performance aspects of the video as
you can see the artist actually sing.
 The high angle shot suggests that something else is
bigger and more powerful than the girl the people
are small and have no control over what will
happen, again, reinforcing the idea of something
bad happening.
 The low angle shot makes the woman look
powerless, but the artists is powerful because he
knows something bad is happening.

9. MISE-EN-SCENE
 In relation to the mise-en-scene there is a few locations
used! The main location is the old, almost empty canal
that youths have used to spray-paint all over. This
location was used to emphasize the darkness and
sadness of the song.
 The narrative part of the video has a range of locations
such as the bedroom and the tattoo shop, this gives
the video verity and keeps the audience engaged
through location change.
 The red top that the woman is wearing signifies both
love and hate. The girl gets a tattoo of the boys name
because she loves him but hates him in this picture as
he cheats on her.
 The lighting in the video to signify the pain that the
woman is going through in relation to her boyfriend
cheating on her and having to move on.

10. EDITING & SOUND
 The video used continuity editing and
edits to the beat of the song. Throughout
the video there is a mixture of both fade
transitions and jump cuts to give the
audience a feel of being part of what is
going on.
 The sound in the video is purely the song
although the beat does get stronger when
the narrative gets more intense. The lyrics
are sung with passion making them seem
louder when the girl catches the boy in
bed with another girl and starts to smash
things in the house.