Textual analysis 1

Pink- Sober (2008)


This song was taken from Pink's fifth studio album, Funhouse (2008). It was written by Pink and Kara DioGuardi. The power pop song talks about the quiet sense of comfort in being sober, with the singer claiming it was about the vices that we choose. The song received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who commended the track for being a heartfelt track, with some praising its lyrical content. The music video was directed by Jonas Akerlund and filmed in the last days of September in Stockholm, Sweden. It plays on a dream-like space between real and imagined over the course of a night. Pink hosts a party attended by a drunken version of herself Showing her battle over drink.

The video starts with an establishing shot and diegetic sound of church bells ringing. There are cross cuts from between three different locations. The locations are gloomy, dark and spooky and set the mood for the video, the darkness and fog can also represent and link with the meaning of the song, and show the way she feels when her vices take over her. There is then a cross cut to Pink sat on a sofa in a messy, dark, old fashioned house, the mess of clothes and drinks in the room could show how she is not in control of herself. There is a jump cut to a close up shot of pink singing, this follows conventions of a successful music video, the editing is to the beat of the song, there is miming and performance and the video uses a wide range of shots and cinematography, from clode ups to group shots, to tilted shots. This make the video interesting and allow the narrative to develop.

When pink is sat on the sofa singing, she is playing the sober version of herself. She looks put together yet disgusted by the mess and the other side of her that gets taken over by darkness. The lighting is significant on this shot as the light is hitting half of her face and body, this half represents the sober side and the hope in her life while the rest is covered in darkness. However this light can have an opposite meaning of how she feels safe with her vices when she is drunk. This is where she is comfortable and at ease. As it states in the song "I'm safe, up high, nothing can touch me" Relating to alcohol as protection and a cover to hide behind, that numbs her pain.

We are then introduced to the other character pink is playing, the character is sociable, aggressive and loud. Opposite to the character before. She is surrounding herself with alcohol making the ideology of the video clear. We then see the sober pink looking at the drunk Pink, she looks disappointed and upset with the other version of herself. However she is trying to help her, as we can see in the scene where pink is being sick, the other, sober version of herself is trying to help. She is rubbing her back, showing that she is the only person that can help herself , nobody else. This point is backed and linked with the lyrics in the song as she sings "If I let myself go, I'm the only one to blame" Stating there is nobody else to blame for her problems but herself.
This video has a narrative but there are certain aspects of the video that are stylish and abstract. However the abstract scene still gives meaning and holds ideology. For example when we see flashes of red light, the colour red in the video represents the danger that she is in and the negativity. Also the scene were she is in the white room is slightly abstract and looks stylish however it showing that she is trapped and that she is in a mental asylum. That she needs help. The colour white represents the hope that she gets help and can escape the asylum and the negativity. Within the scene in the white room pink has black eyes, there is a myth that people with black eyes have no souls, a soul is a spiritual part of a human , this could link to the shots of churches in the video and how church and spirits are holy and dedicated to god. Which pink is going against.
Near the end of the video cinematography plays a significant part, using tilts, fast pans and high angle shots each giving off different effects. The use of tilts puts slight confusion on the audience, showing he unease and disorientation. The repetitive use of high angle shots in the video show that she is not in control and venerable, it also makes her seem less powerful. The fast pans and camera movements almost makes the audience feel as if they are in her body and mind, like her point of view, the fast spins give the physical effect of being drunk. This shows Rick Altman's theory on genre stating how media texts offers audiences ‘a set of pleasures one of the pleasures being visceral pleasures, these are ‘gut’ responses and are defined by how the film’s stylistic construction evoke a physical effect or feeling upon its audience.
Parts of the video are quite scary for example the [parts in the asylum and in the woods, maybe this is portraying the way that she feels, she is scared of the vices she faces and fear of not being able to help herself and escape the negativity. When pink is in the woods, it reminds me of a saying "cant see the wood for the trees" this saying means there is unclarity within a situation like the character is lost and unable to see the what is really happening and the real effects it can have.
At one point in the video Both of the pink characters are in bed kissing and biting each other, at first I found it difficult to understand what message the video was trying to give here or weather it was just for style and to attract the male viewers (Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory) however I then realised it was about, self infliction, self love and tough love. Tough love meaning encouraging a persons welfare, especially that of an addict by enforcing restrictions on them and requiring them to take responsibility for their actions. Near the end of the video she gets off herself and walks out the rooms linking to when the song says "Why do I feel this party's over" She is taking controls and it's almost as if she is saying this needs to stop and that she is leaving that drunk side of her life behind.