Narrative Analysis You Me at Six – Fresh Start Fever

Lyrics Everybody loves the original,Everybody's got time to be cynicalOld enough to know better by now,It’s the greatest joke don’t go letting me down

Hold my drink, this just got physicalI’m on a new wave, it’s getting visceralGoing toe to toe to see how you goI’m in pain. So, yes, it is painful

Oh, heart of mineSing a sad song, sing a sad songWarning youOh, heart of mineSing a sad song

And it’s a fresh start feverWho wouldn’t want to be here?Welcome to the futureDream a little bigger

As for now I reserve judgmentsUntil these chains, chains are redundantThe brave die young and that’s all right for someBut I'm after something long term, long term

Let’s make resolutionsI’ve only got problems and no solutionsYou’re just someone to the worldBut you’re the world to someone else who told you

Oh heart of mineSing a sad song, sing a sad songWarning youOh, heart of mineSing a sad song

And it’s a fresh start feverWho wouldn’t want to be here?Welcome to the futureDream a little bigger

And it’s a fresh start feverFresh start feverWelcome to the futureDream a little big dream a little bigger

You’re a hard act to followSo I stare down this empty bottleBut there's no message at the bottomSo how do I solve it

I’m a hard act to followI know we sink so slo-o-owShallow is as shallow doesKeep a track on all those scars

I said you’ve got a chip on your shoulderGetting worse now you’re olderGetting hard now you're sober[Explicit:] There's your life, it's fucking over[Clean:] There's your life and now it's over

And it’s a fresh start feverWho wouldn’t want to be here?Welcome to the futureDream a little bigger

And it’s a fresh start feverFresh start feverWelcome to the futureDream a little big dream a little bigger

This music video is completely narrative based and has no aspects of performance at all.

However, Andrew Goodwin’s theory of an illustration video does not fully apply as the action does not directly link to the lyrics.

The video includes some disjuncture elements, even though it is a linear narrative.

Strauss and Todorov

• Strauss’ theory of binary oppositions is evident in the conflict between the protagonist’s girlfriend and motorbike coach/father figure.

• Disequilibrium is established when the girl leaves the house crying, it is then apparent that the equilibrium has been ruined due to the boyfriend’s struggle between his love for her and his ambition to race.

• The action links to the lyrics due to the emotions we see the main boy experience (“The brave die young and that’s all right for some

But I'm after something long term, long term. Let’s make resolutionsI’ve only got problems and no solutions”)

Despite there being no performance in the video, all of the band members appear as extras in the narrative. The lead singer, Josh (top left) has the most screen time and plays the protagonist’s friend as he is the front man of the band.

New equilibrium is achieved when the boy quits the race and is reunited with the girl. The fact that he has a solution to his problem and has made a decision links to the title (‘Fresh Start Fever’) as it signals that he wants to start again with her. The happy ending provides closure in the linear narrative and matches the bold drum beat that ends the song.