Genre: Pop/Indie
Director of Music Video: Natasha Pincus
Category: Narrative/Performance
One of the reasons I decided to analyse this music video was because of it's simplicity. The simplicity is what makes it effective for me, in that there can be so many interpretations from this single concept.
My Interpretation
My personal take on this song is that Missy is discussing her disconnection with music after the success of her previous album On A Clear Night, when pressures may have started to rise. For a couple of years after this album was released, Missy Higgins disappeared from the limelight, quitting her career to pursue another, less competitive job. Perhaps this was due to the pressure looming over her after making her second successful album, or perhaps she felt that she gained so much success already and somehow, something was still missing. A career in the entertaining industry has been portrayed by the media as a desirable and easy life; however, there are many artists who have been destroyed in the process of achieving fame and money. This song documents Missy's overcoming of this self-destruction and discovering that at the end of the day, she was in it for the music. It's an interesting connection that the director has made between fighting waves and being overcome with pressure. The rhythm of the sea fits in very well with the waltz (3/4) time signature of the song and carries a sense of movement throughout. The fact that Missy was expected to continue with her career (continue moving forward) is juxtaposed with the message that "answers appear if you just stay still". I think the title of the song "Everyone's Waiting" summarises very well what she may have been going through. She couldn't reach the inspiration to write music perhaps because everyone was waiting for it, waiting for something better than the last album. But when it came to dealing with this dilemma the music was waiting for her.
Relationship between Lyrics & Visuals
Conventions Used
- Performance and
narrative combination
- Use of slow motion
- Syncing of editing
pace and music tempo
Chronological analysis of Everyone's Waiting
- Voices at the beginning of the song (when teamed with the visuals of a calm ocean) reflected a sea shanty, both fit together very well. Calmness of waves reflects the calmness of voice. The voices also bring to mind sirens songs that lure sailors out to their destruction. Perhaps this symbol is reflecting how stardom can lead people to their destruction, and the narrative of the video tells the story of how Missy understood and overcame this pitfall. The voices are distant and calling out to Missy from beyond the horizon.
- Build up of wave at the beginning of the song reflects the build up of pressure Missy Higgins is writing about. Diegetic sound of wave gradually growing.
- As the vocals begin, the artist- Missy is introduced in a long shot of her sitting on the rocks watching the tide ebb and flow.
- Following lyrics are matched up to a straight cut to a close up of Missy with a shallow depth of field, reflecting her disconnection from the world or perhaps the world of music. "But in the reflection I am worlds away."
- Maintaining this thought of disconnection, the camera pans to the right capturing the view of the ocean slowly coming into focus.
- "As I put my costume on, eyelashes one by one. Been doing this so long I can tie the knot, behind my back."- Missy is standing in front of the ocean on the other side (left) reflects the preparation she's talking about before performing. Emphasis on the fact that she's been doing this for a while, and perhaps something is missing from her musical career (not in terms of success).
- Following the long shot of Missy are a series of close ups of the water and Missy taking a deep breath before she greets her audience.
- The narrative aspect of the music video and the performing aspect of the video start to divide. Whilst the Missy going out to sea takes a deep breath looking out into the sunset, the Missy sitting on the rocks is singing the song. Editing pace matches the rhythm of the song.
- Shot of waves reaching for Artists feet the same time the background drums come in. Edited to pace of song- often occurs in music videos. Two shots- one of the sea flowing and one of the sea ebbing.
- The softness of the drums and the rhythm reflect the rhythm of the waves braking at Missy's feet. At a certain point in the shot, the waves breaking at Missy's feet are in sync with the beat in the drum layer of the music. Steady editing pace- pretty much every shot is in sync either with the lyrics or the music.
- Missy brings her head up in a close-up on a beat in the music.
- As more layers of music are introduced the artist is shown walking further into the sea.
- Shots become frequent and from a variety of angles now- rhythm of song also becomes stronger. Close up of hands clenching- reflects nervousness the artist discusses in her song "Just swallow and breathe she says".
- During the second chorus Missy has moved farther out to sea and into the crashing waves. Editing pace increases again, as voice dynamics also increase.
- "Turn it off, I wanna turn it all off" lyric reflects the climax of the battle-- literally the battle of Missy and the waves and metaphorically a battle between Missy and the pressures of the music industry/musicians writers block?
- Following sequence of shots is the quickest yet- reflects Missy struggling to keep her head above the water, and she eventually disappears below, as the music reaches the highest note before dying down to voices and piano again.
- Before the camera was fairly stationary, now the camera has gained movement. Slo Mo used occasionally throughout this music video which allows the visuals to stay in sync with the tempo of the music.
- During the interlude, it takes a couple shots showing the vague outline of Missy's body floating below water level. This sequence reflects the time she spent off from the music industry- as opposed to being out there and battling the waves.
- As the interlude finishes, silence is introduced and a diegetic layer of waves beneath the surface can be heard.
- As the sun rays start to seep through it's like the music slowly starts to return to Missy. Piano starts with a straight cut to sun rays in water.
- As the music builds again the artist starts to swim upward and as the crescendo breaks, Missy's head breaks through the water at the same time.
- Sunshine (pathetic fallacy) is here! Missy is clearly happy to be back. This time she doesn't fight the waves but stands still and ducks below the waves to let them pass. Reflects lyric "I hear that answers appear when you just stand still"
- Editing pace returns to steady (as it was to begin with).
- Switch to shot similar to initial shot- wave building up, only this time Missy isn't waiting on the side lines but standing in a "bring it on" kind of pose, greeting the wave- camera close up this time from the side and from a slightly lower angle.
- Shot of Missy turning her back to the wave (pressure), and learning to deal with the consequences of fame and success through music. Screen goes to black.
Location-
To depict isolation the music video is shot on a desolate coastal area,
with Missy Higgins being the only person in
frame. The narrative of the lyrics tells her journey and how for a
certain period of time she may have been stuck (inspiration wise). It's not uncommon for an artist to
rediscover inspiration in nature, which may be the reason they selected the
area. The sea can represent the musical
inspiration which Missy lost or couldn't find during those few years, when
perhaps the pressure's of the industry
started to loom over her. The absence of others in this video focuses all the
attention on Missy.
Colouring & Lighting- The colour &
lighting used in this video are all natural. A golden sunset/sunrise is one of
the first things we see in a long shot
of Missy looking towards the horizon. As she moves through the water towards the
horizon, the golden colours change to greyish blue. When the music
finishes Missy has found her sun again. The rays may symbolise her
rediscovering the spark of inspiration
she thought she'd lost.
