Music video analysis: Coldplay - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall

Every teardrop is a waterfall by Coldplay was inspired by Chris Martin, who is the singer and front man of the band, watching Biutiful by Alejandro Gonzalez. There is a night club scene in it and the track in the background was based on “I go Rio” by Peter Allen and Adrienne Andersen. The director, Matt Whitecross makes use of various techniques which allows the portrayal of a successful and appealing music video.

The main concept for this video is the denotation of the lyrics, and so focus on them, as well as the performance of the song. The performance is conveyed in two parts: firstly, with the use of stop motion and secondly, with the use of slow motion techniques as well as strobe lighting and vibrant colours throughout both. I will be using Andrew Goodwin’s 6 point analysis to analyse this video.

The use of stop motion in the video is largely present. This means that it occurs at the majority of points throughout and therefore gives it an entertaining presence and gives us, as an audience, a slightly surreal experience. Stop motion is used from the very beginning of the video when we see the shots of the city. This then goes from the stop motion of the real world to a graffiti image of it on a wall. This can portray an interpretation of the song as some believe it to be in regards a young shut in who uses music to block out the real world and so may reflect a false society. Therefore, the use of this reflects the fantasy world in which he lives. The use of graffiti is then used continuously until he goes through the doorway which is indicated by the stop motion graffiti with the image of arrows to show us where the singer is going to go. This graffiti is used to portray the lyrics by actually depicting them around Millennium Mills, which is close to London City Airport and has featured in a large number of other music videos, for example by Snow Patrol, Artic Monkeys and The Smiths. As well as this it is used as imagery as at various points there are shapes either reflecting what is going on in the scene, i.e. the guitarist playing and the images on the wall behind them of music notes, or to reflect the lyrics. For example, when “my heart is beating” is stated a pumping heart is present behind the singer. This then reflects Goodwin’s theory as the portrayal of lyrics and so the relationship between audio and visual is clearly present. 

Accompanying these lyrics is a great deal of performance. The first member of the band we see is Chris Martin who is singing in stop motion whilst the camera circles around him. Other members of the band are shown as well, however the main focus is on Martin. This also reflects Goodwin’s theory as in which it states that record labels will demand close ups of the artist, and in this case the band, and by focusing on the singer it is well stated. 

The second segment of performance takes place after Martin enters the indicated doorway. We go into a scene which largely resembles a rave with its fluorescent and neon colouring accompanied by strobe lighting. The lighting gives off an almost ultraviolet effect and these rave-like attributes are not usually associated with this type of rock/pop song and so this video is not necessarily conforming to all genre characteristics, meaning that it does not stick to Goodwin’s theory. In this performance slow motion is used to create a dramatic effect and give with performance a greater depth. This also uses a lot of dissolves to black which bring about a sense of mystery and the use of such does somewhat confuse the audience as they find that it is a rather obscure aspect to include in a music video which contrasting conventions. However, it does capture the audience’s attention.

The colouring used throughout is bright, vibrant and brings a sense of fantasy to the video. This is as the colours firstly used in stop motion are bright; however, the majority of it is blue as to fit with the idea of tears and waterfalls. We follow the blue graffiti, which is almost like following a river, going up a wall and down the other side, conveying the waterfall.  The splashing waters create a steady pattern of endless rhythm which is reflected in the unsteadiness and disorder of the colouring near the end of the video which reflects chaos. The bright colours at the end reflect this as it is no longer following the waterfall idea and eve when it does conveys the concept of teardrops they are pink and black which is not a common attribute of tears. These also jump onto the screen at the end covering up the stop motion image of the drummer and bringing the video to a close.

The performance then goes back to them performing outside at the end of the video which is once again in stop motion. In this we clearly see the entire band. This cuts to them in different positions in various shots which once again makes the video more entertaining. Before this Martin goes back out the doorway to join the rest of the band. We see him in various shots, longs shots, then mid shots, then close ups, which provide us with a great variety of angles which allow us to become more entertained by the video. 

The sole purpose of this video is to entertain. We can see this through its various techniques such as stop motion and the bright and luminous performance scenes, which reflects Goodwin’s theory as they follow genre characteristics.        

By Hayley Cook