'Saviour' : The Lights - David Goodwin

Title/Artist:

Saviour was produced by a Canadian group called the Lights as a part of their music album called The Listening. It was released in Canada on 6^th July 2009 and in the United States of America in autumn 2009. It had been recorded from 2007-2008. Wikipedia specifies the genre as New Wave, Synth (Synthesised) Pop. The music video is probably aimed at teenagers and young adults.

Narrative:

Poxleitner beings by saying how lonely she is (The night is deafening when the silence is listening) and how she feels that something is missing although she tries to ignore her reliance on who she is missing. She then expands by saying that something has not gone as planned (I´m a bit of a manic when it´s not as I plan it) and that she starts losing her head and panics in this type of situation. She recollects previous experiences of a similar nature when they always knew when to quit it they were kids. “It” is never specified but it may refer to some kind of hallucinogenic drug. The use of “we” suggests that they were both using “it” and she asks whether they are denying a crisis or scared of admitting it, suggesting that they might be addicted to “it” but they want to break the addiction (And break off the chains and throw them away): This probably refers to the “chains” of addiction

The Lights “Saviour” Lyrics

I don´t want to know

I just want to run to you

I just want to be so much
And shake off the dust that turned me to rust
Sooner than later I'll need a saviour
I'll need a saviour

It won´t ever change if you want it to stay the same
I really hate it but I know it´s hard to choose if you´re chained
And when it´s all you control cause you´ve got nothing less to hold
You´re getting tighter and tighter it´s getting harder to let it go

I don´t want to know

I just want to run to you
And break off the chains and throw them away
I just want to be so much
And shake off the dust that turned me to rust
Sooner than later I'll need a saviour
I'll need a saviour

Stand me up and maybe I won´t be so small
Free my hands and feet and maybe I won´t always fall...
Save me

I just want to run to you
And break off the chains and throw them away
I just want to be so much
And shake off the dust that turned me to rust
I just want to run to you
And break off the chains and throw them away
I just want to be so much
And shake off the dust that turned me to rust
Sooner than later I'll need a saviour
I'll need a saviour

Analysis:

The video begins with a fade in from black to a low panning tracking shot of a skull and a shaped white modern art lamp. The scene is lit with blue and purple filtered lighting connoting mysticism and femininity. This is followed by a close-up slowly panning shot of a plain white table with sheets of paper with drawings showing the development of a cartoon character and a storyboard with coloured pencils and paintbrushes connoting that Valerie Poxleitner (the singer) is a comic strip artist. The camera then cuts to a slow track over Poxleitner’s bedclothes and daytime clothing similarly lit by dark blue light, connoting that the music video is filmed at night. Poxleitner is on top of the bed playing a keytar. The camera then cuts to close-up horizontal panning shot of the keytar and cuts to a bird’s eye view shot of her laying back playing it. The use of the keytar is intended to appear to be the live source of the music since the guitar and her singing is the only parts of the music. There is then a horizontal panning shot of mystical plant-like glass modern ornamentation showing the fragility and delicate nature of her imagination. One of the ornaments has falling sparkling special effects around it reflecting the magic-like power of her imagination. The camera then cuts to a close-up hand-held shot of her face (still singing) which moves hand-held to one of the plant-like ornaments indicating a relation between the delicate nature of the plant and herself.

A slow zoom out is used in order to smooth the transition between shots of Poxleitner, and of the other decorations in her room.

There are multiple shots of Poxleitner which bring the viewer’s attention back to the singer followed by a shot of the unpainted cartoon drawings on her table which cuts back to her, some shots having a purple mist/smoke to the right of her indicating the introduction of additions of her imagination. There is a brief shot of her cartoons running along the arms of a settee and more shots of the singer which completes with her starting to get up. The camera focuses on a cartoon drawing of her along with the development sketches to the right which cuts to a blue portal-like light generated by her imagination as she heads towards itself accompanied by “I just wanna run away” as a cartoon version of her rockets out from the light with a jet pack against a cartoon backdrop of space. The camera cuts to a real shot of her drawing cartoons at the table which cuts back to her in bed with the keytar. There is a tracking pan shot of her walking and numerous similar shot of her drawing and playing the keytar and looking at the ornaments.

There is then a shot of a special effect the cartoon version of her still rocketing through cartoon space facing towards the camera. She (the real version) then blows on a decoration releasing a gentle eruption of superimposed sparkles and the camera cuts to a side medium shot of the cartoon version of her rocketing past an imaginary cartoon space landscape including an image of the impossible cube, planets, a gemstone-like rock and strange planets and asteroids. The use of imaginary cartoon elements in the video represents her imagination and how she wants to escape to a surreal realm generated by her imagination. There is even a shot of the cartoon version of her passing through her real room and her drawing. The cartoon version of her plays with the astronomical landscape and explores other-planetary landscapes vaguely resembling her ornaments. The cartoon version of her displays bravery and confidence that the song shows that she lacks in, perhaps suggesting that they represent the confident explorer that she wants to be. Poxleitner then mimics the actions of her cartoon self with her ornaments.