Noah and the Whale – Five Years’ Time Textual Analysis

Noah and the Whale (NATW) were formed in 2006 and their hit single ‘Five Years’ Time’ was originally released in 2007 and then re-released on 4^th August 2008 and it was their first chart topping song. The video was directed by James Copeman and falls into many genres such as Indie/Alternative/Folk/Pop Rock. This music videos style has been inspired by a Wes Anderson film, using the dame font he uses in his films and this whole video has an Indie feel to it as there is no special effect or flashy clothes and features a lot of performance and illustrative features.

This Music video has adhered to many Pop Rock/Alternative/Indie genre characteristics such as having a lot of the video featuring the band playing their instruments but at the start of the video it introduces the band and each member with mid shots of each member of the band introducing them 1 by one (this is a unique aspect of the video) and they have done this to promote their band plus to get their faces recognised which is popular within this genre. They also have their instruments appear on screen as they start playing on the track splitting the screen into squares which promotes their image as they play an unusual combination of instruments (such as the ukulele, violin and a drum). In this particular video by NATW they have a colour scheme for their clothes only wearing the colours yellow and blue which amplifies the bands image and promotes them as artists. Having this colour scheme is unusual for a band but they don’t fit into a certain genre so they are creating their own image which makes them stands out of the crowd. They have included illustrative dance moves to their video which you usually see in pop videos and this is where the pop characteristics of the band is shown also the upbeat tempo of the song is where the pop genre shines through mainly. The music is very upbeat and happy, the tempo is quick and the tone of the song is light hearted. This is represented in the visuals by a fast cut rate and bright colours. The shots are of people smiling or being generally happy as are the objects show. This is rejecting the conventions of alternative/indie music as usually the songs of this genre are dark and meaningful whereas this song is the opposite.

There are intertextual references in the video, the main reference being the band playing in suits on a small stage which could be interpreted like “Happy Days” TV show in America. The band playing on a small stage and the drummer only having a small part of the drum set could also be a reference to The Beatles. There is also a shot when the band is dressed in rowing/scout costumes this could be a reference to “Oxbridge” students. There is also a line in the song where he sings “I feel no longer I have to be James Dean who was a popular movie star who stared in a movie called ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ and he plays a cool teenage rebel.

The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals is amplifying because in many places in the video they have random shots matching the lyrics such as when they say “we could be walking round the zoo” and it skips to a shot of one of the band members in their band colours at the zoo with a girl. After a few lines it has another amplifying match between the lyrics and the visuals where they sing “and I will put my hands over your but you’ll peep through” This is a mid-shot of one of the band members covering a girls eyes and then she peeps through. Most of the shots and dances in this song are very literal and spell out to the audience what the lyrics are saying. When they are dancing during the chorus when they sing the repetition of the three words “Sun Sun Sun” or “Fun Fun Fun” the words appear on the screen in the Wes Anderson Style.

The relationship between the music and visuals are mainly the band playing their instruments and clapping and the editing in this video stays the same pace throughout but it does pick up slightly throughout the chorus cutting in-between the dancing and the band playing. The video is edited to look like it was shot through a hand crank camera, with a grainy look to it. The colours have been distorted after shooting to make it look like it was shot In the 70s on a hand cranked camera. There points reinforce the fact that this band is alternative and individual and the bands image.

Overall this video is interesting to watch with the 70’s style and the stupid dance moves and the filter of distortion and grainy look.