Lenka – ‘The Show’

Textual Analysis

Genre characterics.

Genre – Pop, with some country elements Similar to Kate Nash and Lily Allen, Lenka

has gone for a simpler approach to a music video. There is no glitz and glamour that is normally common in music videos, but this adds to the straightforwardness of the lyrics.

The bright colours used adopt the pop music feel, but the artists image has a folk style.

What is the relationship between lryics and visuals?

There is a sense of confusion in her expression as she sings ‘I'm just a little bit caught in the middle’.The video is abstract like Kate Nash’s use of plastic figurines and fighting tooth brushes. She uses puppets that like he bluebirds that sit on a branch watching her sing, this has connotations to the Muppets.

What is the relationship between music and visuals?

The video cuts to the beat, in the clips of flowers are extracts from the music video and petals disappear after each beat in the song.The artist is shown on a stage performing a show into a microphone, very much like the other artists she sings into the camera.The video’s edit pace are similar to the lyrics, when she sings ‘stop’ her body stops to the music. She is moved around into different scenarios in the music along with the pace of the music.

Close ups of the artist and star motifs.

The artist has gone for a simplistic video, again, like Kate Nash and Lily Allen. The content revolving around the artist, as many close ups are shown whilst she sings into the camera.Throughout the video there are references to the Muppets. As she cycles on a bike she has the two puppet tomatoes in her bag, which are very similar to the Muppet tomato in the Muppet films.

Is there reference to the notion of looking?

The artist is sophisticated and like Kate Nash and Lily Allen, she has made herself relatable because of the simple way she comes across. In some scenes she is shown wearing pyjamas and getting into bed. Her video embodies a routine in which normal people find themselves in everyday.Lenka is shown looking into a mirror, brushing her teeth. This is a normal occurrence in everyday life and is a form of voyeurism.There is also a clip where she is holding a photograph of herself that is in motion, giving a sense that she is lost even though she is with friends.

Intextual references.

This song ‘The Show’ is used in films and television shows, such as ‘Angus thongs and perfect snogging’ and ‘Ugly Betty’. These are both about female characters and I think that Lenka wants to be relatable to a female audience, as that is her target audience. The lyrics ‘I’m just a little girl stuck in the middle’ suggest the audience that she targets her music at is female. The artists all sing about emotions that people can feel, especially the female gender and that will make them more relatable as artists and more inspiring to project this image onto an audience.

Narrative, performance or concept based?

NarrativeThe video is not telling a story, but does narrate the idea that she is lost and confused as this emotion is in the lyrics, it is reflected in the video.

PerformanceThe video contains a lot of footage of the artist herself. She is in different scenarios that occur in normal peoples routines and lives and this makes her relatable as an artist and inspirational to a younger female audience.

ConceptThe concept is that she is confused and trapped in her emotions, something that evrybody feels at some point in her life. There is a sense of no matter who she is with, or where she is, something seems to confuse her and she feels lost.