Andrew Goodwin's Theory-Task 4

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin was a musical theorist. He came up with a theory about pop music. He believed that pop music are:

1. Based on a song rather than having a narrative.
2. The singer is a narrator and character.
3. The singer looks directly into the camera.

He also believed that there are three types of relationships with songs and their videos. The relations are illustration, amplification and disjuncture. Illustration is where the video tells a story and dancing can reflect the mood of the song. Amplification is where the the video adds new meaning to the song that doesn't contradict the lyric but works with the song and adds layers of meaning. Lastly, there is disjuncture. This is where there is no link to the video and the song.

Example of illustration

Numb by Linkin Park

Numb is an example of of illustration as the video shows a girl who feels lonely because she is not like the other people at school. We also see the band performing in the video as well. The lead singer of the band, Chester Bennington, narrates the video with his singing aswell.

Example of disjuncture

Californication by Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Californication is an example of disjuncture as the video is the band members in a video game and the song itself is about the dangers of California.

Example of amplification

Skyfall by Adele

Skyfall is an example of amplification. This is because the song is about someone facing the end of a problem or circumstance and it suggest that something bad may happen because of this. The video itself shows scenes from 007:Skyfall. We see that the characters looked worried and we see an explosion. There is not a direct link between the song and the video but the video does give the song some meaning in an indirect way.