Analysis of Country Music

Country songs are most likely to be written by the artist themselves because they draw from personal experience, which means the song will probably have deep meanings to their songs. In their music videos it would usually be a narrative for the deep meaning to their song. The artist would normally portray the main character to show emphasise their song they have written. Usually country artists have learnt to play a musical instrument and this is normally shown in the music video. A stereotypical place for a country music video is for them to be in the fields or a little city, showing natural environments such as lakes. The props used and normally thinks like trucks while the costumes are usually cowboy outfits, like a check shirt.

Taylor swift was a country singer when she started her career at 16, she is now 26 and has had 5 albums and 3 of them are under the genre of country however, her 4th album red is country with a twist of pop. While her 5th album she comes away from her genre of being a country artist and transistors to pop music instead. One example Taylor has shown her country genre is in the song Tim McGraw that she wrote herself when she was 16. The music video starts off with an establishing shot of a lake setting where she is holding an old fashion radio, this setting adheres to the stereotype of the genre of country because the lake is very family friendly, normally if the song was related to family they would show them fishing and having a fun time. While Taylor has used the lake as it looks peaceful and obviously it has a meaning to why she has gone their to think and listen to the radio. Country artists are usually from the southern states where the genre originated from. This means they are more to old fashion things and are all about good morals. By having the prop of an old fashion radio it shows it isn't all about the latest technology and is about the old, meaningful things that matter. One stereotype of country music is to have instruments such as banjos. This is shown straight away as the song starts, which represents
she is country straight away if no one were to know her genre of music.

One of Taylor's costume is a white dress, the colour of the dress represents innocence and purity. The fact she is lying in the grass with an old fashion radio makes her seem all the more sweet. Although, she is wearing a dress with no sleeves, I wouldn't say in this video Taylor is dressing in a provocative way, as the long is about young love and is suppose to be innocent and sweet. In later shots she is seen in field with her boyfriend wearing jeans a casual top, if this was a R 'n' B or pop song, the women would be seen to be wearing minimal clothing to try and impress their love interest. Taylor can been seen to have a darker side, as she sings 'when you think happiness, I hope you think of that little black dress.' This suggests that even innocent people have another side to them because she appears to be wearing white in the video but is singing about a black dress that should make her boyfriend happy. The black represents a more darker side. However, it could just be symbolic to them where they shared a good memory together.


The males costume is very stereotypical with the cowboy style, a buttoned shirt and jeans, also to reinforce their culture of country, he has been seen to be driving a truck which is also stereotypical for country music videos. The use of this prop also reinforces that this music video is a narrative as when Taylor is singing about things they appear in the music video. For example when she sang about the 'Chevy truck' he appeared in a scene driving it. Taylor continued to show a narrative through her music video by providing flashbacks of her time with her boyfriend and showing the audience the good time they used to have. These scenes may represent what actually happened during her time in her real relationship, also she is referring to months in her song for example 'September saw a month of tears' this shows she drew from personal experience which adheres to the stereotype of country music videos. Taylor drawing from experience is further supported by the number of close ups we are seeing throughout the video, these shows us the expressions Taylor is feeling which shows that she has gone through the emotional experience.

Another stereotype Taylor is adhering to is showing the instrument she is playing. Comparing country to pop normally in a pop music video the artist wouldn't show that the musical instruments used to create the song. However, Taylor is shown playing her guitar which again shows the audience that she is writing these songs herself and showing them her ability of music.

The next music video which is country music video is by Lucy Hale -You Sound Good to Me.  In the beginning of the music video we hear the sound of crickets this suggests that the video will taken place outside which adheres to the stereotype of a country music video because the country music is all about family, friends and the wilderness. We are also shown long shot of the setting they are in, which is in the field and on the road surrounded by a lot of grass and countryside. 

Lucy is also shown to be on a road trip with her friends the car they are in is very different from the video above. Taylor has used a very country like truck whereas the friends are in a car that would be seen in different genres of music.  By having a group of friends in the music video and showing they are having a good time suggests that country artists value each others friendships.

On the road they arrive at a small hut which named 'Rustic can you grill' with a animal figure in-between the words. The use of the prop shows that country artists have very different styles and

tastes, the animal figure wouldn't be seen in pop or a rap music video because it wouldn't have any resemblance to their songs and wouldn't relate to their genre of music. While running into the shop they try on different floppy/straw hats, in a R 'n' B video artists and characters would be seen to be wearing snapbacks to show their gangster look. The boys costume is not very conventional however, the girls especially Lucy who is the artist of the song is shown to be wearing Jeans, cowboy boots, with a big buckle belt.

The last scene is Lucy and her friends arriving at a camp fire, this further supports the fact the
country artists are about the wilderness and friendships by spending time together. While round the campfire they are found singing and playing instruments. Having instruments being shown in the music video is stereotypical for a country music video because it usually shows that the artist is drawing from their experience. However, Lucy is not shown to be playing a musical instrument which could suggest that she has not written the song for herself and doesn't have that much of a personal connection to it as Taylor Swift would with her songs. However, has chosen her song to be her single because she relates to it.

 

The last country video to analyse is Carrie Underwood's song 'Smoke Fire'. The setting of the music video is in the middle of nowhere, with only surroundings of plants and trees. The truck used adheres to the stereotype of country music videos and this truck is similar to the one used in Taylor Swift's song above. However, in her music video a male is shown driving the truck, while in Carrie Underwood's video she is shown driving the truck which subverts the stereotypes of the music video as males are seen to be the ones driving in a masculine car.

While the female driver is out on the road she comes across a diner, this sort of narrative is similar to Lucy Hale's music video where they are out on the road and come across a small hut shop. Country music videos are known to be show family or have a rustic theme to it. The diner shows up in the music video when she is singing 'Working three jobs, feeding four little mouths in a run-down kitchen'. This is also similar to Taylor's music video as it relates to the lyrics they are singing. This supports what a Country music video entails, and supporting that most country music videos have a narrative to them.

Her music video also adheres to the many stereotypes of country music as her costume she is in represents country. The picture below is a long shot of Carrie showing that she is hitchhiking, this is because previously in the video her truck had broken down which then forces her to walk and find herself a ride. This gives more support to the fact the country music videos mostly follow a narrative. The long shot suggests that Carrie is still in the same location as she was when the music video started, showing that she hasn't gotten far because thje3 surroundings are similar. The long shot also shows all of Carrie's costume, she is shown to be wearing a white plain top but also she is wearing a check shirt which is normally worn by those in the southern states of America, her costume also adheres to the stereotype as she is wearing knee high brown boots.
The use of the prop in the photo is showing that she is a musician because she is carrying a guitar and the truck that is in the picture takes her to a show where she performs with the guitar. The performance part of the video suggests that Carrie Underwood has a personal experience with the song because we are shown many close ups of the guitar and her singing into the microphone to show her passion she has for this song.
This is different from Lucy Hale's song as she isn't shown playing an instrument, where as Taylor and both Carrie have which can suggest that mostly country songs are personal to the artists because they write and have a connection with it because they are able to play an instrument.

The future for country music I believe will still be the same, Taylor's music video was released in 2009 and Carrie Underwood's was released in 2015 and they have very similar aspects to their song, which adhere to the stereotypes of country. Lucy Hale's music video was released in 2014 and also had similar characteristics although may not be completely the same all three had a narrative and from the pitch and musical instruments used in the song you are able to tell they are all country.