Music Video Analysis: Lonely The Brave // "Backroads"

Lonely the Brave // Backroads

"I'll be the sky and you be the bird"

In this analysis I will be exploring Cambridge five-piece Lonely the Brave's music video to "Backroads". The video was directed by Greg Davenport, and Backroads is the lead single from the debut album "The Day's War" (2014), which also features "Trick of the Light", which I will reference later in this essay, and "Victory Line". The band have recently been exposed to a lot of publicity, from playing renowned slots at festivals such as Glastonbury, T in the Park and Reading and Leeds over Summer 2014 as well as a support slot for Mallory Knox, the band are set to tour the UK along with Marmozets in Autumn. NME said that "The Day's War" was one of the best albums of the year and soon this band will be receiving widespread recognition, whether they want to or not. Lonely the Brave flaunt a unique style of emotive rock, with instantly recognisable guitar riffs and a powerful vocalist (who sounds identical live to in recorded songs, as I have seen them perform twice), and their largely metaphorical lyrics have made them an instant hit amongst listeners and reviewers alike. I list Lonely the Brave as one of the most important comparisons to the artist I will be working with (Abandoning Sunday), and so the styles that are portrayed in the music video could also inspire my own video. I will be discussing the significance of the narrative concept used in the video and how it effects the audience through corresponding to the emotive nature of the song.

The video commences with a tracking shot of the main characters that the video follows as soon as the guitar riff kicks in. The 5 main characters (interestingly corresponding to the number of members in the band), are all depicted on skateboards, in a slow-motion shot, as they ride together through city streets. Immediately, the audience can get a feel for the song through the use of intertextuality here- skateboarding, like surfing, is sometimes coined "Free-Ride", in that the skateboard gives the rider the freedom to travel wherever - and the tracking shot reveals that the 5 young adults are in a slightly desolated, perhaps war-torn city. The pace of the riders increases after the audience sees the tires in the background, and then slows again at the barricade of tires as 4 soldiers walk across the shot. This already gives the impression of taking freedom and subverting authority in the video- being free. This is why the director has chosen to have the actors on skateboards for the duration of the video.

"Just want to fall here, silently"

As the first lyric commences, the actors walk into a large, derelict area filled with tires and debris. "I saw things that the rat saw, and my eyes couldn't take them in" describes the feeling of shock that the free-riders have upon seeing such destruction. Lonely the Brave said that the actors who the video concentrates on are "friends from Kiev, who are living through the unrest". This usage of intertextuality and using a real experience that people have to live through to support the theme of freedom in the video is very powerful. The actors are shown to walk through a memorial sight, evidently moved by the numbers of people lost and particularly who has been lost in the conflict, hence the emotive lyric, "just want to fall here, silently, into the arms of people I love", suggesting that the actors here feel a sense of hopelessness and being lost, but amongst their friends they can be comforted.

As the chorus kicks in, an infinitely different feel is portrayed. "Look at the way the faces turn" is given a whole new meaning by the director who shows how the innocent riders turn into the rioters during the Kiev unrest, as they combat the riot controllers during the powerful chorus. Slow-motion shots are used in the chorus and throughout the video, perhaps to show how the riders can get lost in the moments of being free riding their boards when threatened with such violence on a day to day basis. The perhaps flagship lyric of the band, "You be the sky and I'll be the bird" has many connotations of freedom, with the bird having the infinite power to be free, flying in the sky, and the use of pronouns suggest that when the individuals are with their friends, they can all have a sense of freedom. The use of imagery throughout the video implies this with several impressive location shots that imply themes of exploration, adventure, and more importantly to the video, hope and beauty, as stated by the band themselves. The actors constantly look around and take in the sights around them, adhering to Goodwin's theory of looking, and are appreciating the beauty of the world they live in, when faced with such adversity, for instance the bridge shot and during the second verse.

Davenport uses Imagery and impressive shots to enhance the meaning of the video and the theme of Freedom

In the second verse, the theme of freedom is enhanced further, mainly through the use of imagery. It is interesting how the band do not appear at all during the video, as they are still relatively small, and Goodwin says that star-image motifs are often created. However, Lonely the Brave are an exception to this as they admit they are so focused on the meaning of their music than being famous rockstars, they would rather produce something like this video to Backroads that will give hope to those faced with difficulties. This is something I can implement as I will not be able to get my artist in my video and he too is still small, and Lonely the Brave have a very similar style to his full band tracks.

The band sing in the second verse how "all was lost" and how they had their "fingers crossed", giving a sense of hopelessness to the song. The scenes depicted in Kiev in the video correspond to this, but show how even all was lost and they may be worried and afraid, that there is still hope and that you can push on against any obstacle, say the band on their website. The characters in this section are all shown together, particularly when they are holding hands, connoting unity and strength. Semantically, the 5 are depicted spraying graffiti on what is later revealed to be an army controlled area, as the band sing, "you're raping on my dreaming" - showing how the conflict is crushing their dreams, but the graffiti is a stereotypical subversion of oppression and resistance. Again, when "the rat" is mentioned, the soldiers are shown, negatively portraying them, and metaphorically taking away their freedom by taking their skateboards (a reference to the intertextuality I mentioned at the start), but they take them back- furthermore, this brief section is in conjunction with some shots of the soldiers in riot gear during the unrest. As the guitar reaches it's emotive climax, the two contrasting scenes are shown in the most apparent light- the turmoil of the conflict, the flares and the riot gear, the violence- contrasted with the infinite uplifting sense of freedom of the young riders, laughing, drinking, and exploring. "Let's meet the mountains and see what they heard" perfectly encaptures this sense of adventure that the video creates, matching Goodwin's ideas of imagery complimenting lyrics.

"You're raping on my dreaming, and you're ruining my best made plans"

The guitar then calms as the bridge lyrics are sung again, "I'll be the sky and you be the bird", reversing the lyric and the use of the pronoun you, saying that they are giving the freedom back. The emotive scenes of companionship give such a strong feel of escapism- the Director said in "The Story of Backroads"  that he had been following the Euromaidan movement in Ukraine and how the scenes of hope on New Years Eve contrasted that of the brutality of the unrest. The scenes of freedom were not specific to the conflict, they are trying to capture a more universal feel of seeking freedom and happiness when faced with obstacles and adversity, something that corresponds to the lyrics of the song very well. The actors in the video did actually participate in some of the riots in Kiev, to further enhance the message. As the vocals again reach an emotive climax for the finale of the video, one of the 5 is shown in a long shot jumping into the water. This shot fully encaptures the mood of escapism, and then they are all shown together, smiling, having fun, skateboarding away at the end of the video (one of them almost miming a bird, incidentally).

The use of not only a powerful narrative to compliment the emotive lyrics and feel of the song but also the usage of intertextuality and imagery creates a stamp of free will and free being in the video; that there is always a brighter future. The video, although not featuring the band at all, is a symbol of this hope and carries a message just as powerful as the song itself. The video adheres to Todorov's Narrative Theory, where there is first an equilibrium, and then a disruption, in the form of the riots, and then the restoration of equilibrium when the youths are shown skating free at the end. This concludes my analysis on the music video to Backroads.

I feel this video is a great video to analyse as it will also benefit me when it comes to planning my music videos. The similarities the artist bares with my act allow me to draw many comparisons, especially as the artist isn't featured in the video. In Lonely the Brave's other music video to "Trick of the Light", the band isn't featured at all either, and instead the strange conceptual video follows a girl, who's face isn't shown until the end of the song, as she travels through forests and vast landscapes to the sea. As simple a concept it is, it compliments the track very well, and makes use of Goodwin's ideas of looking too. I can use these videos as great examples and influences for my video when it comes to planning.