What About Now
– Lakshay Kukreja (Luxe)
In this essay I will be analysing the music video of the song ‘What About Now’ by Daughtry (Youtube, 2009) using semiotic analysis methodology as described by Daniel Chandler (Chandler, 2006). I would be unfolding the denotative and connotative meanings of things displayed in the music video and would identify the dominant ideologies that are being supported or being challenged by this media text. The music video uses semiotics to support a few dominant ideologies and also to challenge few other ideologies, which I would be uncovering in the analysis. My argument is that media uses semiotics as an effective tool to make the consumer perceive particular messages subconsciously. Also, being an Audio student, I’d try to semiotically analyse the music performed by Daughtry (Daughtry, 2018).
Semiotics is the study of signs and meaning-making. It studies what the signs really mean and how they are presented in media texts. A sign could be anything that interprets something other than itself. The two dominant models that a sign constitutes are ‘Signifier’ and ‘Signified’.
Signifier – the form which the sign takes
Signified – the meaning/concept it represents
EXAMPLE:
Below is a picture from an awareness campaign by Yarra Trams.
Signifier – A man wearing a “Tram Coach” shirt standing in front of a tram with a Myki card in his hand.
Signified – Don’t forget to pay for your journey.
When we semiotically analyse something, we are most interested in the meaning of things that is being conveyed. “Semiotics analysis should be used to focus on the underlying meaning of texts, while other methods can be used to provide the context in which the texts are published, produced or received.” (Stokes, 2003) There are three orders of signification (layers of meaning); denotative, connotative and ideological. Below is a graphic from GTA San Andreas (Game):
Denotative: Three black men with guns, money and alcohol.
Connotative: Three gangsters.
Dominant Ideology : Black people form gangs and indulge in crimes.
“Dominant ideologies are ideologies or beliefs that we live by in our day-to-day lives and often do not question – they have become ‘natural, common sense’ things to do. This effectively dissuades people from rebelling against these beliefs, and keeps a sense of stability in society.” (Media-studies.tki.org.nz, 2018)
Now I’ll give an overview of the music video of the song ‘What about now’ by Daughtry, and then I’ll reveal the messages that are being conveyed through particular visuals; using semiotic analysis. Also, I’ll talk about the dominant ideologies that are being supported or challenged in this media text.
“The video is a social commentary, depicting several people and places affected by poverty, natural disasters, and war, as well as other world issues. Several comments are made about these issues, and the video also asks introspective questions to the viewer. Certain people who are working to help these problems are shown throughout the video, with their names and what they’re associated with listed. The video features a light bulb that has not yet burned out, which symbolizes that it’s not too late to make a difference. The video concludes with one final question to the viewer, “What About Now?”, shown next to the burning light bulb. A few shots of the band playing the song live are also shown in the video.” (En.wikipedia.org, 2018)
The music video starts with a light bulb burning out. The sudden turning to darkness is a metaphorical statement for a sense of something being wrong. (Benjamins.com, 2018)
—–> 
The light bulb and the word “light” has been used throughout the video to convey a specific message. At the beginning of the video, it is used to suggest that something is not right. At 00:41, there is a clip of a man using a torch to flash a light into a destitute’s eye. The written text that pops up throughout the video is saying “People live here, without light, without sight.” The word light symbolises a few different things here. Denotatively, it means that the person in the clip is suffering from eyesight problems. It could also mean that these people live without electricity. Connotatively, it means that people live without basic necessities and in deteriorated conditions. But as a broader connotative perspective, “light” signifies a ray of hope for everything to be alright. At 1:25, there is a clip of Thomas Edison and his light bulbs. Light bulbs are used here as a sign for new hope, new beginning, new initiatives or ideas. (Benjamins.com, 2018) The written text says “One day in a corner of the world, a light went on; an idea was born.” Till this moment in the video, various people and places are shown suffering from poverty, disasters, etc. But after this moment, a new beginning has been shown; people trying to make a difference to help the poor, needy, destitute. The light bulbs are a new hope and change for these people. Again at 3:32, a visual of a person’s fully opened eye has been displayed with the words “I am light and the gift of vision”. Denotatively, the words, and the visual are talking about eyesight. Whereas connotatively, “light” again has been used for a sign of development, prosperity, progress, good health and conditions; and “vision” is used for the initiative taken by NGOs with a plan of development in mind. The video ends with the same light bulb that burned out at the start of the video, burning back on. It signifies the idea that it isn’t too late to think about taking an initiative to help the needy. The written text reinforces the title of the song “What about now?” and is a plead to the consumers to think about giving something back to the people who are in need, and bringing about a change; making a difference.
The video shows people and places suffering from various issues. After the bulb burning out at the start of the video, there is a clip of a homeless man with a signboard in his hand saying ‘What’s the best “nation” in the world?’. Denotatively, it is just a simple question; but connotatively, it’s a rhetorical question that suggests that USA being the world’s “most powerful” nation, has problems. Not everyone in the US is in a good shape. This is challenging the dominant ideology of USA being a ‘land of opportunities’ and being related to power, freedom and grace.
At 00:52, the chorus begins with the title reinforced through the lyric, and is accompanied by a clip of well suited people getting out of a train, and following their day to day routines. The written text says “I’m an average Joe”. If we analyse this semiotically, we can gather that this is a plead to the average person to take out some time from their daily lives and be aware that they could bring out a change. The dominant ideology that one person is not enough to make a difference is being challenged here. The video suggests that one doesn’t need to be Superman to make a difference; even an ‘average Joe’ could contribute to make the ends meet.
The lyrics and the written text are mostly denotative, but they also could have several connotative meanings. The written text is providing a commentary that supports the visuals to complete the underlying message that is intended to communicate through the song. Sentences like “A light went on, an idea was born” with the light bulb visual; “I am a wave of compassion” with the surfer surfing on the waves; “I am light and the gift of vision” with eye checkup related visuals. All the written text is connotative of something other than the literal meaning, but the visuals used are quite literal, which makes the music video really engaging and interesting. The literalness of the visuals paired with the written text makes the consumers think deeper about the underlying meaning. (Faculty.washington.edu, 2000)
At 02:52, Chris Daughtry, the frontman of Daughtry appears singing the soft and intimate chorus lyric, yet again reinforcing the main message that is intended to communicate through the song, “What about now? What about today?”. This brings back the consumers of the music video from thinking that everything’s going good now, to the realisation that they have to do their part in making a difference. Pulling the consumers out of the semiotic visuals and engaging music is important to bring them back to a sense of reality. A soft chorus (sometimes called ‘down chorus’) is a good way of getting intimate with the consumer and communicating something serious and reinforcing the main idea of the song. (Disc Makers Blog, 2016)
Now I will analyse the music and how it helps to convey the intended message. Chris Daughtry sings the choruses with passion and hits a few high notes with trembly high pitched voice, which signifies the pain and plead to the consumer to contribute towards making a difference for the society. The instrumentation plays a big role in bringing forward the emotion related to the issues. Reverby guitar parts, string orchestrations, sustained-distorted guitars, piano, arpeggiated guitar are some of the elements that contribute to the feel of the arrangement. Backing vocals are used in this context to pull the attention to certain words or phrases. (Tagg, 1982)
To conclude, the music video of the song ‘What about now’ by Daughtry heavily uses semiotic methodology to convey a specific message. While doing so it supports and also challenges a few dominant ideologies. We can also see that some of the times it supported or challenged a dominant ideology, it was intentional, and the other times, it was unintentional. The music video is a social commentary and a plead to viewers, asking them to believe that they can make a difference. Many denotative elements have been used which have a connotative underlying meaning to them, which makes the consumer perceive the core message subconsciously.
References:
YouTube. (2009). Daughtry – What About Now. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/roDXSHSEuoo.
Chandler, D. (2006). Semiotics for beginners.
Daughtry. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.daughtryofficial.com.
Yarratrams.com.au. (2018). Yarra Trams. [online] Available at: http://www.yarratrams.com.au/.
Stokes, J. (2003). How to do media & cultural studies. 1st ed. London: SAGE, pp.76.
Rockstargames.com. (2018). Rockstar Games: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. [online] Available at: http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/.
Media-studies.tki.org.nz. (2018). Ideology / Media concepts / Teaching media studies / Home – Media Studies Private Community. [online] Available at: http://media-studies.tki.org.nz/Teaching-media-studies/Media-concepts/Ideology.
En.wikipedia.org. (2018). What About Now (Daughtry song). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_About_Now_(Daughtry_song).
Benjamins.com. (2018). The GOOD IS LIGHT and BAD IS DARK metaphor in feature films. [online] Available at: https://benjamins.com/#catalog/journals/msw.3.2.03for/details.
Faculty.washington.edu. (2000). Art and the Semiotics of Images. [online] Available at: http://faculty.washington.edu/dillon/rhethtml/signifiers/sigsave.html.
Disc Makers Blog. (2016). Connecting With Your Audience | Disc Makers Blog. [online] Available at: http://blog.discmakers.com/2016/04/connecting-with-your-audience/.
Tagg, P. (1982). Analysing popular music. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, pp.47-48.
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