Goodwin's theory - Relationships between lyrics, visuals and music

Another part of Goodwin's music video theory is based around the relationships between the lyrics, visuals and music. All three work in synergy to entertain the viewer and to convey the message of the song.

The music will always have a link with the visuals. In some videos, such as Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, this is accomplished by cutting between shots in time with the song's beat, and in others by changing the pace of the action in the shot when the pace of the music changes. The song Golden Retriever, by The Super Furry Animals, for example, changes the band members into strange costumes and has bits of fur flying around in the shot when the music speeds up. Most performance based videos will also have the band members speeding up their actions in time with the music.

There will also be a link between the lyrics and the visuals, to help demonstrate or add meaning to the lyrics. The visuals can illustrate the lyrics, for example Owl City's Fireflies has a toy robot dancing on the line 'teach me how to dance'. It can also amplify the lyrics, which is generally more subtle, like in [EXAMPLE].

As well as these links, however, the visuals can also contradict the music, the lyrics or both. The lyrics, for example, are contradicted in Can't Stop, by The Red Hot Chili Peppers in the first line. The singer says 'can't stop' as the shot cuts from one of the band members running to one of his motionless head. The music can also be contradicted by having bright and happy visuals when the song is in a minor key, or slow motion when the song is at its climax, which is quite a common technique.

On top of the links between these three aspects, there are certain things present in the visuals that fit with the music's genre. Every genre will have characteristics, although these can be purposefully broken to give the band a unique image or to make it seem like they are 'breaking the mould'. Rock videos, for example, will almost always be performance-based, while RnB videos will very often have backup dancers. Artists that cross the boundaries between genres, like Janelle Monae, will usually try to break the conventions of the genre they are most associated with. In the music video for her song Tightrope, for example, Janelle Monae has a very strange mix between a narrative and concept-based video, with lots of characteristics of older genres of music, despite the very modern RnB feel that the song has.