Video analysis 2

Video: Crying lightning
Band: Arctic Monkeys
Director: Richard Ayaode



“Crying Lightning” was a single from the album “humbug”, released in July 2009. The best way to describe it in terms of genre would be indie rock, although as ever. This description can be seen as inadequate.
The video is largely performance based, although it does feature a vague narrative involving the band sailing on a small boat in a style which is partly a parody on nautical oriented stories and films. Throughout the video we see various silhouettes of the band, and the way the video is composed is also reminiscent of various nautical paintings and films, with the composition and colours echoing this. Even the title of the video references this, using font and animation to give the impression of not just a nautical scene, but maybe of a ghost story.
The idea of ghosts returns later in the video when the band rise out of the water in a manner that is reminiscent of miracles and religious experiences. This is emphasized by the high angle of the camera, making the band seem superior.
The colours used in the video are those of a sunset, also giving it a slightly romantic feel, giving us a further idea of the video taking place within a painting. The colours, red, yellow and orange, also have connotations to anger however (especially red) and this could reflect the more aggressive aspect of the song.
The music does not correspond in any notable way with the editing of the video. The only significant way the music does really correspond is in what the band is doing in the video (playing instruments).
The narrative that is shown in the video does not follow the lyrics of the song whatsoever, but it does seem to follow the general atmosphere of the song, although this means that the video is very unexpected to people who have only listened to the song beforehand, and maybe not associated it necessarily with nautical or religious themes. This could be to it’s advantage, however, as this does mean it has an impact on the viewer, providing they have heard the song before.

Although lyrics and video are unrelated:

Outside the cafe by the cracker factory you were practicin' a magic trick
And my thoughts got rude as you talked and chewed
On the last of your pick and mix

Said you're mistaken if your thinkin' that
I haven't been caught cold before as you bit into your strawberry lace
And then a flip in your attention in the form of a gobstopper
Is all you have left and it was goin' to waste

Your past times consisted of the strange and twisted and deranged
And I love that little game you had called cryin' lightnin'
And how you like to aggravate the ice-cream man on rainy afternoons

The next time that I caught my own reflection
It was on it's way to meet you thinkin' of excuses to postpone
You never look like yourself from the side but your profile did not hide
The fact you knew I was approachin' your throne

With folded arms you occupy the bench like toothache
Saw them, puff your chest out like you never lost a war
And though I try so not to suffer the indignity of a reaction
There was no cracks to grasp or gaps to claw

And your past times consisted of the strange and twisted and deranged
And I hate that little game you had called cryin' lightnin'
And how you like to aggravate the icky man on rainy afternoons
Uninvitin' but not half as impossible as everyone assumes
You are cryin' lightnin'

Your past times consisted of the strange and twisted and deranged
And I hate that little game you had called cryin' lightnin', cryin' lightnin'
Cryin' lightnin', cryin' lightnin'

Your past times consisted of the strange and twisted and deranged
And I hate that little game you had called cryin'