Goodwin Analysis - Taylor Swift "Love Story"

Several of Goodwin’s points can be seen in the music video above: 'Love Story' by Taylor Swift

Lyrics and music – In this video there are points in where the music tends to overpower the lyrics “marry me Juliet you never have to be alone” the music is upbeat emphasising the story being told through the song ‘Romeo and Juliet’.  The music is country style genre and with some of the lyrics without seeing the music video it relates to the genre “and the flashbacks starts I’m standing there on a balcony in summer air” The balcony is usually referred in country music and is a representation of the countryside.

 

Lyrics and visuals – In this video there are many links to the lyrics and visuals this is seen in the music video in many ways for example “so I sneak out to the garden to see you” you see that the main character ‘Juliet’ in gardens with a lantern. Another example of lyrics and visual match on action “we were both young when i first saw you” you see that the next main character ‘Romeo’ is being looked at by the main character 'Juliet'. As the lyrics get more powerful the story is told through the visuals and the more the audience sees.

 

Genre characteristics – The genre of this music video is country pop. So there has to be some certain elements in the music video that can relate to it being country pop. An example of the music video being country is when there is a scene in the middle of fields which is countryside, and in the beginning of the music video there is a scene from where it is modern sticking to the genre pop as well.

Notions of looking – The music video contains a few notions of looking where the women are portrayed as the weaker sex. There is a scene in the music video where the man is doing the leading even thought the music video tells the story from the women’s point of view. Country Pop usually have been known to have stereotypes women as the weaker sex  and men usually do all the first moves and leading.

 

Intertextual reference –  Taylor Swift is signed to ‘Big Machines’ who are well known in the music industry and ‘big machines’ are commonly known for the genre country and distribute country music. With such a huge fan base of both the label and the artist the music video “Love Story” is bound to have been a success in the music industry. With the music video having more than 71 million hits in less than 2 years.

Demands on label – Being signed to ‘Big Machines’ known for country music obviously the artist has restrictions on doing other genres. But Taylor Swift has always gone back to her roots of country music but combining it with something like pop. Being known worldwide and having a reputation of country music helps the artist and record label succeed.

Structure – Watching the music video you can see that there is a structure and the story of the music video. This music video has the story line of Romeo and Juliet so even though the audiences know the story of Romeo and Juliet they are intrigued by the modern interpretation of it. It tells the story from flashbacks then from beginning to the end.