Monday 31 October 2011

Mumford and Sons - Winter Winds (Music Video)


Mumford and Sons are a British folk rock band that have been around since 2007, the band have one studio album entitiled 'Sign No More' which was released in 2009. The video I have chosen to analyse is that of the song 'winter winds' the video has a mixture of Narrative and perfomance as it is appears to show the band trying to get to a performance before it starts, but also shows some narrative that links in with the lyrics of the song.

The music video for winter winds is set in the countryside and in a small town, which is what you would associate with the genre of the music. The video starts off showing the members of the band running out of the woods covered in straw. The band are dressed in collared shirts, waistcoats and trousers, and look like the 1930's working class, although at the same time they still wear clothes which come from the current era like the straight cut jeans worn by Marcus Mumford throughout the video. The haircuts that the band have are also similar to that of the 1930's which was when folk music was most popular prior to its comeback through folk rock. The clothes and haircuts are only references as they are not exactly as they would have been in 1930's which can be seen through the hair products and shoes worn by the band members.

The opening of the video shows an establishing shot of three characters who turn out to be the band members, they run out onto a road and the camera zooms out to give a better of view of the setting of the characters. The camera cuts to Marcus Mumford walking through a corn field carrying an old chair and an acoustic guitar, the camera is zoomed in to show only his waistcoat, the edge of the guitar and the handle of the chair. Establishing shots and zoomed shots are very popular for the genre, this is because they can be used to show the typical countryside/village envirionment that is common within folk music.  

Throughout the Narrative of the video the band continue to appear as though they are the working class from the 1930's. Marcus Mumford can be seen dragging a chair and holding an acoustic guitar whilst walking through an overgrown field, he then has a spade and starts to dig at something but is then shown walking off again. The video looks as though it is going to stick to simply being in this 30's sort of style but then the band are shown laughing with a security guard at the entrance to a gig, and then walking onto the stage. The band are also seen travelling to that performance in a car and on a train.

Two different time periods are going on at the same time in the video, the one that is showing the band travelling and appearing at a modern day performance and the one of the band travelling in the 1930's. At some points in the video the two can't easily be made out from  one and other until something else happens and allows us to see them either in the countryside or shows a hint to the modern day lives on the band. 


The travelling to the show which the band are going to play could also represent the bands rise to fame, as they are shown having fun all the time along the way there. The fun they had whilst making an album and become well known was mentioned in an interview with Marcus Mumford and this could be a reference 

Friday 21 October 2011

Wagon Wheel - Lyrics

Wagon Wheel
 
Headed down south to the land of the pines
And I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline
Starin' up the road
Pray to God I see headlights

I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh
I can see my baby tonight

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

Runnin' from the cold up in New England
I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time stringband
My baby plays the guitar
I pick a banjo now
Oh, the North country winters keep a gettin' me now
Lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave
But I ain't a turnin' back
To livin' that old life no more

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke
I caught a trucker out of Philly
Had a nice long toke
But he's a headed west from the Cumberland Gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee

And I gotta get a move on before the sun
I hear my baby callin' my name
And I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh
At least I will die free

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

Music Video

The song that I plan to create a video for is the song Wagon Wheel, which was originally produced by Bob Dylan for the soundtrack of "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" but wasn't used and was left with only the chorus written. The lead singer of the folk band 'Old Crow Medicine Show' Ketch Secor wrote verses for the song and performed it under the producer David Rawlings. 

The song was covered in early 2010 for a BBC Radio 2 Session by Mumford and Sons, and it is this version of the song that I will be using for my video.