Monday, 1 October 2012

Video Analysis: 'Walk' - Foo Fighters

'Walk' is the single from American band Foo Fighters and was released on June 6th 2011. The song reached number one on the Billboard Chart. On February 12th 2012, the song won two awards at the Grammys for 'Best Rock Performance' and 'Best Rock Song'.


In the music video 'Walk', lead singer of the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl, takes the character of a stressed out businessman on his way to work. He becomes increasingly frustrated at the path is life is taking whilst sitting in traffic and decides to dramatically change the status quo and go back to the old school of rock and roll. It is as if he is having a midlife crisis.

Dave Grohl is pictured through a long shot sitting in his car looking fed up. He is dressed in a standard yet sterile white shirt and tie with glasses - stereotypically the uniform of the average working man. A series of close ups and cuts show how he increasingly gets more and more annoyed. The surroundings reflect how society has changed around him - "PUNK IS DEAD" written in graffiti above him on a bridge. Other examples are a number of bumper stickers such as "Thankyou President Bush" and "Coldplay". Grohl sees what is wrong through his eyes in society and realises he has been caught up in these changes and himself changed into this mundane everyday existence. He grabs his guitar and exits his car - symbolic for his exit from this boring lifestyle. He is not a businessman, but a rockstar. When he leaves the car the music begins.



Grohl immediately refers to this dull existence in the lyrics therefore showing a direct relationship between the lyrics and the visual meaning of the music video, "To who it may concern, I think I may have lost my way, getting good at starting over every time I return". It echoes this idea of him losing contact with what is important which can be presumed music perhaps. As these words are being spoken, the camera tracks him walking along a bridge. There again is repetition of the literal translation of the lyrics as not only is he metaphorically learning to walk again but physically too as he has left his car behind. It as if Grohl realises he has been 'going through the motions'.



He goes from one mishap to another in the video. At first his stumbles across a newsagents and asks to use the phone but he rudely is denied his request and comically has a plunger pushed into his face. The pace of the events on screen becomes more dramatic as the heavy guitars start and he assaults the attendant before running out of the shop. The lyrics then sung are, "Do you remember those days we built paper mountains, then sat and watched them burn" - suggesting that the spirit of adventure and rebelling has gone. As this is being sung, Dave Grohl pushes over a phonebox, which repeats this idea of fighting against the system.




It shows the transition form his normal lifestyle which was initially presented to how he is now trying to break away from this. It is a protest against morality and the limitations that society forces onto you. This is also then shown again when he is threatened for his guitar, perhaps as he looks vulnerable dressed as a stereotypical business man as mentioned. The two attackers are clothed again stereotypically as thugs in dark and threatening props. A comical fight scene then takes place which also can be seen to reflect Dave Grohl's personality which is not too much of a serious one. This is also a feature of the band itself - as the members feature as characters throughout illustrating they do not take themselves too seriously as well. This happens to take place in a park which is an everyday surrounding, much like the city landscape which is featured throughout as a constant. This is also the same for the golf course where Dave continues his mishaps by stealing a golf buggy and running over one of the players as well as driving it into a lake. It generates an atmosphere of chaos and anarchy. Again, this is not meant to appear as a violent event, but a comical one - but at the same time showing the frustration at society he feels. The lyrics at this point are almost shouted intensely which is emphasized through the angry expressions etched upon  Dave's face - "I never wanna die" is repeated.





 When Grohl arrives at the garage branded with the Foo Fighters emblem, he enters and is shot in mid framing. His band members are then shot for the first time together and then it cuts back to him - by taking off his glasses and loosening his tie, it metaphorically represents him freeing himself from the shackles which conceal his true identity, which is an old school rock star. This part of the video shows the change between the comical narrative and the actual performance where he is presented in the foregrounded as the lead singer. The performance is shot in a series of fast cuts which plays off the beat of the song hence the pace of the transitions

It focuses on every member of the band before frequently flitting back to Grohl on his own. Unlike Grohl the bandmembers such as Taylor Hawkins (drummer) are not still dressed in the same clothes as they were earlier in the video. They are wearing casual clothing which can be seen as them being normal and themselves as a member of the Foo Fighters. 



It then cuts at the end to the police storming in and tazering Grohl. Which again appears halarious to his bandmates and concludes the video which subconsciously portrays a meaningful message of how society is changing for the worse.




No comments:

Post a Comment