Narrative and Performance

Steve Archer had a theory in 2004 and stated that often music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band. The music video for 'Gives You Hell' by All American Rejects fits this theory. For the artist is part of the story acting as a narrator and participant at the same time. Lip sync close ups are the miming of the playing instruments remains at the heart of music videos, as if to assure the band can really kick it. Also in Steve Archer's theory he mentions that a carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artist's performance, but that can not be applied to this music video. 


The narrative of this music video is a linear-narrative and is about two neighbours and one house being neat and calm and one being wild and fun. At the beginning of the narrative this is immediately clear by the colour codes used. One house is colourful and vibrant, which looks energetic and lively. In contrast the other house is in calm neutral colours suggesting plain ordinary and boring personality. The setting of the first minute of the music video is set at night time, which fits the lyrics, 'I wake up every evening'. The neighbours in the brightly coloured house are then performing the song, which ties in performance into the narrative. The lead singer of the band is the main character in the narration, and both 'neighbours' are played by him. 


Without the music video, the song may be interpreted as being about the emotions felt when there is hatred, such as after a break up or after a fight. When seeing the music video with the song, people may have different reactions to the deeper meaning. The lead singer plays two main characters, the man living in the fun house, and the man living in the perfect house. This may represent two different sides of himself, maybe what he is like and what he aspires to be like. 


The visuals narrate the lyrics throughout, such as, 'and where's that shiny car, did it ever get you far?' The miss-en-scene denotates a perfect house, new car, a smartly dressed successful couple with the wife making freshly squezzed lemondade. The connotations of this is the American Dream is not as great as it seems, because life is meant to be fun and exciting too. At 1.08 the man who is from the perfect house starts singing, ''Do you know where you are? And truth be told I miss you, and truth be told I'm lying'. This backs up the idea that the narrative is about two different sides of one person.
There is also a shot of homemade lemonade being poured, and then a shot of music being turned up louder, contrasting lives. This music video is a perfect example of music videos cutting between narrative and performance.