Written: Paloma Faith, Wayne Hecter and Tim Powell
Director: Nelle Hooper
Genre: Pop
Structure: Narrative
"Picking Up The Pieces"
Do you think
of her?
When you're
with me?
Repeat the memories
you made together
Whose face do
you see?
Do you wish I
was a bit more like
her?
Am I too
loud?
I play the clown
To cover up all these
doubts
Perfect heart
She's flawless
She's the other
woman
Shining in her splendor
You were lost
[Chorus]
Now she's
gone
And I'm picking
up the pieces
I watch you
cry
But you don't
see that I'm the one
by your side
'Cause she's
gone
In her shadow
is it me you see?
'Cause all that's left is you and I
And I'm picking
up the pieces she left behind
I found a photograph behind the TV
You look so happy
are you missing the way it
used to be?
And I have changed
this room around more often lately
It's clear
that we
And these
four walls
Still known as hers
and yours.
Perfect part
She's flawless
She's the other
woman
Shining in her splendor
You were lost
[Chorus]
Now she's
gone
And I'm
picking up the pieces
I watch you cry
But you don't see that I'm the one by your side
'Cause she's
gone
In her shadow
is it me you see?
'Cause all that's left is you and I
And I'm
picking up the pieces she left behind
Are we liars
in denial?
Are we smoke
without the fire?
Tell me please
is this worth it?
I deserve it
[Chorus]
'Cause she's
gone
And I'm picking
up the pieces
I watch you cry
But you don't
see that I'm the
one by your side
'Cause she's
gone
In her shadow
is it me you see?
'Cause all that's
left is you and I
And I'm
picking up the pieces
She left
behind
Ooh, I'm
picking up the pieces
Of a broken
heart
Who will save
them?
Who will save
them?
I'm picking up
the pieces
Ooh, I'm
picking up the pieces
Somebody save me
Somebody save me
Oh, oh, ooh, ooh.
Picking up the pieces is a song performed by
Paloma Faith from her album Fall to grace. It describes the relationship
between her and her partner but how he is un happy and still suffering from his
loss of his previous relationship. Paloma is seen as a shadow of the previous
woman, who she states as perfection and the reason why he cannot let it
go. Another version in what paloma describes
is that they’ve just broken up and are both very upset. He's sort of obsessed
by this other version of Paloma who represents perfection. He's in love with
perfection, but the perfection doesn't actually exist - it's like the perfection
that she's imagined in her own paranoid, self-loathing way. Faith then becomes
wax-like and she begins to melt, which could be described as resembling the
emotional crumbling she has suffered through domestic abuse. “Faith said: that
the scene in which she melts shows that her character is not real and that what
she was imagining does not even exist. She added "We have this kiss at the
end that signifies that we just had a blip. I think that happens a lot in
relationships.
I
would say that this song appeals to mainly women as it is from a woman’s point
of perspective and women can take it as real life events and can relate to the
lyrics from times in their own lives. It can reach out to a range of audiences
for different reasons.
I would say that this song is a ballad with
strong and powerful instruments used within the piece such as drums and the
piano. At different stages these instruments are used in softer touches
creating light atmosphere but when they are played hard it creates power and makes
you listen to the lyrics more.
I
believe that the target audience for this song is from teens (13) to middle age
(30’s/40’s).
The music video opens with an establishing
shot of a country manor placed on a dark hill. The scene is shot with the sky
looking black and dull so almost straight away you can tell that it is not a
happy music video. Non- diegetic sound also plays a crow squawking which in
some superstitious ways examples death and sorrow. It goes onto follow a car
driving up a road and diegetic sound of a car engine supports this shot. The
shot shows a rich but old-fashioned car, which could support a different era.
You can also tell this by the way in which mise-en-scene, shows costume of the
two characters. Paloma where's a cream thick mid length jacket with a skirt,
white tights and her hair styled in a 90's style. The male wears a shirt and tie
with a long black jacket. The rest of the mise-en-scene enquires the 90's style
so this could be set in a different era but from Faiths background and how she
dresses anyway it cannot be confirmed. Mise-en-scene later in the music video
shows the man walking through different rooms. These rooms are decorated with
90’s style décor such as an old grandfathers clock, large fireplaces and
wallpaper patterns of that era.
The narrative is almost explained immediately
with a close up shot of Paloma, dresses in cream, a colour that could symbolise
innocence. It then quickly cuts to a close up of a man. His expression is stern
and mise-en-scene is used to show him dressed in black, giving the audience a
feel of an antagonistic character. Mise-en-scene also show's light shining on
Paloma's face, again exaggerating her protagonist character, however only
little light is placed on the man's neck. This could symbolise Paloma's light
of how she's there but he can’t see it. This is supported by her lyrics in the
song when she sings later on: "but you don't see that I’m the one by your
side". Levi Strauss also came up with the theory of binary opposites where
there is always a bad character to match a good character, i.e., Superman and
Lex Luther. Faith is the protagonist, the girlfriend that does everything for
her lover and puts up with emotional domestic abuse whereas the male is the
antagonist who treats her badly.
The Narrative is developed to show a high
angled shot of the car pulling up outside the manor house and the man gets out,
closing the door and leaving paloma in the car, alone. This is when the song
begins to start and she starts singing watching him leave. Throughout the whole song this Paloma, is
seen as two women, the one that sings and the one who is seen as a statue,
never are the two seen together and never does she sing at him in the same
shot.
Cinematography develops the narrative by
allowing the audience to see from different angles and of what they want to be
portrayed. The director tells you what to see through the different camera
angles. After the male leaves paloma in the car, he walks through the house.
This is seen through a tracking shot that follows him from behind. This could
represent his dominance is the speed of his walk and the dominant stand, like
no one can stand in his way. It could also represent Paloma and its her
following her and its as if the audience are looking through her eyes, watching
him walk away and then an over the shoulder shot shows him kiss the “other”
Paloma which could represent the perfect woman. I put other in inverted commas
as I feel like paloma is represented as two women; the one he kisses is seen as
a statue like character, possibly representing the “perfect woman” he wants.
She wears a blue lace dress and he hair styled up in another “90’s” style up
do.
Editing then works with
cinematography by using jump cuts to different shots. It jumps from the over
the shoulder, to the man reading the paper, to looking at faith, to faith, then
to faith singing in the car, then to a painting of an old man. Whilst this is
happening non-diegetic sound is playing over the top, of faith singing “do you
wish I was a bit more like her?” This
could be representing what I said about there being two faiths and her being
the statue is trying to be perfection. These edits could also symbolise that
they can all see her in pain but “he” cannot as he’s trying to carry on as
normal. This cinematography tells the narrative of her pain and how she wants
to be the other woman for him.
Diegetic and Non-diegetic sound is used
within this music video. Non-diegetic music is played over the top of the video
in scenes where you can hear Paloma singing but you cannot see her singing,
until the shot of her by herself when she is singing into the camera. You have
diegetic sound of the car and you can see the car and diegetic sound of the
footprints of the maid walking with the food through the house. The music stops
at this part, which could represent the tension between the two but also builds
up the tension and then emphasises the song lyrics more powerfully when the
non-diegetic sound of her singing begins to play again.
Mise-en-scene and non-diegetic sounds work
together when Faith sings, “are we smoke without the fire?” they have placed a
fire in the background of the video creating verisimilitude.
The Narrative progresses into Faith melting
like wax. This supports what she said about her not being real, how she’s not
perfect and she cannot be the other woman. He doesn’t see her for who she is
and so she’s melting away. At the end he runs to her, the Paloma we see singing
into the camera, and he kisses her. This can also represent that none of it is
real; it was a lover’s tiff, which creates realism and verisimilitude of real
life relationships.
The lyrics I have highlighted are ones I felt
best described the narrative they are heart felt and create verisimilitude for
the audience of mainly female to relate to. I feel the video is well directed
and produced and really makes you want to watch right to the end it makes you
feel for Paloma.
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