Kasabian are a British Alternative, Indie Rock and Electronic band, formed in 1999. They have released 3 studio albums, and have won numerous NME, Brit and Q Awards, as well as being nominated for a lot more.
This song Fire is part of their third album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, released in 2009. It reached 3rd place in the UK Singles Chart, making it their most successful song and is known as Kasabian’s best song yet. Their other songs include ‘Shoot The Runner’ and ‘Reason is Treason’, also popular tracks from their previous two albums.
Genre
The Song’s Genre is Indie and Electronic Rock; Indie rock being a sub-genre of Alternative rock. This is because the instruments consist of an electric guitar, keyboard and drums but with more focus on the lyrics than heavy ‘rock style’ sounds. Kasabian’s songs are more ‘gentle’ than Heavy Rock music, so they are dubbed as Indie Rock, taken from the old meaning of Independent Rock where bands didn’t have a Music Label. It is also Electronic Rock because of the combination of electronic music with rock instrumentals, such as using a keyboard/synthesizer along with guitars and drums.
The Music Video keeps with the ‘Independent Rock’ Genre because of what the band members are wearing. Indie Rock artists have a range of music and styles, so therefore they can choose their own image to go along with their music. Kasabian’s lead singer Tom Meighan is in a Denim jacket and jeans, Guitarist Sergio Pizzorno is in a red shirt, white trousers and a black Fedora hat (with a guitar and a bandolier
of harmonicas), Drummer Ian Matthews is in a suit, tie, sunglasses and black gloves (gangster appearance to go with the narrative of the music video) and Bass player Chris Edwards is in a brown jacket, jeans and a baseball cap. These varying appearances display how each band member has chosen their own image, and are independent from any real music genre branding, stereotypes or conventions.
I also know that the Music Video Genre is Indie Rock because of the narrative: the band members attempt to rob a bank but it goes disastrously wrong as they get shot and surrounded by the police- an original idea which plays out very well and works effectively with the song. Indie artists try to make their work different from normal rock, and Kasabian are keeping to this convention. Another feature of the video which show the genre Indie Rock is the setting and Mise-en-scene; the bank robbery is set in a1970’s style American suburb with old-fashioned cars and clothing for the background actors. Indie Rock was born out of Alternative Rock, which came along in the 1980’s as a new wave form of music but Indie rock kept some traditional conventions and Kasabian’s slow-paced songs are similar to this.
Music Video
The music video for the song is a Narrative video, where the band play criminals who try to rob a bank until the police stop them and it all ends in disaster as they all get either captured or shot. However, this is not a pure narrative clip because at the beginning and throughout, the lead singer Tom is singing the lyrics up against a window, as he prepares himself for the oncoming robbery. The Narrative isn’t linear either because we see shots of the ‘money’ blowing across the ground at 0:18, possibly displaying a teaser to the audience of how it will end. Also, the scene keeps cross-cutting back to the beginning of Tom’s reflected singing during the slow-paced verses, which again echo backwards and can show what he’s thinking during the actual robbery.
The music video then changes from a normal camera into this security camera angle, a vouyeristic stlye shot with the audience watching from a security guard’s perspective. This is to add to the robbery effect and portrays the band even more as criminals, because it’s like the audience being shown this from a ‘Watchdog’ TV programme so they can contribute any information. This camera style eventually ends and returns to normal when the band escape into the bank’s safe room, to get a better perspective on their faces and show their emotions now that everything is going wrong.
Therefore, the band have broken media codes and conventions because they don’t show any instrument playing; only singing, unlike a lot of other Narrative music videos. The use of this security camera angle is also original, and it helps to give a better view of the robbery from a different perception. It features the genre conventions of Indie Rock because the band have done their own thing and not copied what similar artists have done for their songs. It also displays classic rock conventions though because the band has placed themselves as criminals/gangsters, who have a shoot-out with the police. This represents the rebellious and revolutionary mood of rock music, with a style that differs from all other types of music.
Audience
The target audience for Kasabian are teenagers and adults aged 16-40, male and female. This because of their older music style Indie Rock which, appeals to the slightly younger generations of adults (aged 25-40) but also to teenagers because of their fashionable and ‘trendy’ songs, such as Fire. The specific target market for this song would the same- teenagers and adults aged 16-40, but this song has a slight inclination towards the male gender though. The lyrics such as “Take me into the night and I’m an easy lover, Take me into the fight and I’m an easy brother” suggest the viewers/listeners are male. This is reinforced by the fact that there are hardly any women in the video at all, only those who work in the bank and who cower at the sight of gun-wielding band.
I can also identify the audience with the Uses and Gratification theory. The video displays the band members robbing a bank and the failed getaway afterwards, ending in a shoot-out and stand-off with the police. Male audiences who want to be part of a band will watch this and put themselves in Kasabian’s position, alongside these cool members and thinking how awesome it would be to actually do that.
Take me into the night and I’m an easy lover
Take me into the fight and I’m an easy brother
And I’m on fire
Burn my sweet effigy, I’m a road runner
Spill my guts on a wheel, I wanna taste uh-huhAnd I’m on fire, and I’m on fire Chorus
And I'm on fire...(I’m going, you tell me, I feel it, I say it
I'm heading back into the tunnel for my soul to burn)
And I'm on fire...
(I'm coming, you coming, no hiding, my feeling
I wanna take it to the highest over me, yeah...)
Verse II
Wire me up to machines I’ll be your prisoner
Find it hard to believe, you are my murdererI’m on fire
I'm behind you
Heads up falling sky
Chorus
And I'm on fire...(I'm going, you tell me, I feel it, I say it I'm heading back into the tunnel for my soul to burn)
And I'm on fire...
(I'm coming, you coming, no hiding,
my feeling I wanna take it to the highest over me, yeah...)
And I’m on fire, I’m on fire
Extended Chorus
Move on, you got to move on
You got to hit 'em to the hip
And get your shake on
Move on, you got to move on
You got to hit 'em to the hip
And get your shake on
(I feel it, I want it, I'm coming, I tell ya, I caught the bullet from the heavens to the one you serve,
I'm going, I'm running, out to the highest love
I'm wanna hit you to the hip...)
And I'm on fire...
Move on, you got to move on
You got to hit 'em to the hip
And get your shake on
And I'm on fire...
Move on, you got to move onYou got to hit 'em to the hip
And get your shake on
The song lyrics do match with what we are seeing on the screen- at the beginning when there is no music but just this man talking (introduction) the video action is also slow- the band members are preparing themselves for the battle ahead, whilst looking edgy and suspicious (such as looking nervously around and checking watches. As soon as the music starts at 0:18 we also hear the cocking of a rifle- this displays how things are going to kick off now as well.
Another feature that shows the music match on the action is that during the first verse (slow guitar and lyrics intro) all the band members’ movements are slow and deliberate. They all walk rather than run into the bank during the ‘slow’ music stage, but as soon as the fast ‘I’m on fire’ chorus erupts the action speeds up. Ian Matthews runs aggressively into the bank and smashes a camera, nearly exactly in pace with the speed of the music.
The video also matches the feel of the video because it’s called Fire and the whole narrative is like a fire starting- when the band rob the bank the fire starts, and as the police arrive they add to the chaos and the fire spreads, eventually ‘engulfing’ each band member. Also, lyrics such as these: “Wire me up to machines I’ll be your prisoner Find it hard to believe, you are my murderer” and “Move on, you got to move on You got to hit 'em to the hip” with words prisoner and murderer relating to criminals and “you’ve got to move, hit ‘em to the hip” are
like shooting people and escaping. All these lyrics are intertextual with what Kasabian have created and also represent criminals in a different position, because usually they manage to escape in these sorts of films.
Representation
In this video there are 2 groups which are represented- robbers/criminals, and the police.
With this being Kasabian’s song and music video, they play the main protagonists who rob the bank which is named after the album this song is on (West Ryder Union Bank, after the West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum album). They represent robbers with their costumes, props and actions. As I have already mentioned, they chose their own clothes but they also have features of robbers- Tom uses a bandana to cover his face, Sergio uses his long coat to hide his ‘guitar gun’, Ian has dark sunglasses and black gloves on and Chris covers his guitar is rags to disguise it. They also use guitars as guns and steal music sheets as money, as a way to display them as ‘music robbers’ and to make the music video appear less violent. Finally, their violent actions represent them as criminals because upon entering the bank they become very violent, and at the finale they hold nothing back when shooting at the police, just like a desperate attempt robbers would do when they are surrounded. Like a stereotype criminal film scene, the robbers shoot up the police cars before they get killed or captured.
We can also see a brief glimpse of wanted posters of the band at the police station, displaying how these are be hardened criminals ‘wanted by the FBI’ (can also be a reference of the band’s popularity in the UK) which the police need to stop.
Kasabian are currently part of Columbia Records, an American Record Label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Sony is the fifth largest Media Conglomerate in the world with their 2010 Revenue of over £45 billion, and is the leading manufacturers of electronics, entertainment and communications.
Other artists owned by Sony (through the Music Labels they own) include AC/DC, Aerosmith, Alexandra Burke, Avril Lavrine, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Calvin Harris, Franz Ferdinand, Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, JLS, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Oasis and Rage Against The Machine. Many of these artists do produce similar music to Kasabian (Franz Ferdinand, Oasis) but many are other genres because Sony wants to own as many different types as possible, to spread their influence and make more money.
I believe that Sony does have some influence on how this video was made- it features American cops and is set in an American-style location, and Sony is a Japanese-American owned company. I believe that they use American themed mise-en-scene because Sony and Kasabian want to target the
Camera shots, Editing and Lighting
At the very start, we get an establishing shot of the street which sets out the view of the location and the style of the sets. The camera then cuts to each band member as they ‘prepare’ for the bank robbery. This involves some extreme close-ups of their faces to see their expressions, displaying to the audience that they’re not just violent criminals, but people who have emotions. It is also a way to show each band member up close, something fans will enjoy seeing as this narrative progresses.
The lighting and camera angles on guitarist Sergio Pizzorno are of special interest. Notice how he is always shrouded in darkness and in the shade in these introduction shots, with his hat obscuring his face and the camera angle low down, looking up on him. These shots could be subliminally showing him as the most unlawful and evil of the robbers, something which is proven at the end where it is him who fires the most bullets at the police and doesn’t give up in their desperate situation. The 4th camera shot is especially effective at showing this, because he is in the foreground where there is darkness blanketing the street, while the sunlight can be seen in the distance, away from him.
Halfway through the video 2:05 the camera cuts back to Tom singing into the window reflection. Alongside his face we see edited shots of the money flying everywhere and bullet casings falling to the floor- this represents the flashback and possibly the doubts he has about the job, because he knows what is going to happen. His face also gradually becomes transparent, again showing the outcome and his ultimate demise.
Intertextuality
This music video is intertextual with another- Judas Priest Breaking The Law http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o7znh0KR5s&ob=av3e because they also rob a bank using guitars as guns, in order to reclaim a music award from ‘the man’. I believe Kasabian took this idea and adapted for their purposes, resulting in a better music video. However, they could just be referring back to Judas Priest as an intertextual link back to an older British band, since they are only using the idea in good faith. Also, Judas Priest’s music video has much different narratives and styles, so I think Kasabian were only loosely basing their music video on this.
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