Music Video Analysis

Music Video Analysis

Foster the People – Coming of Age

The opening of the video, we see lots of random images. This is known as ‘information overload’ as it all happens quite quickly, and so far they don’t have anything to do with each other so we don’t know why these are being shown.

The only similarity between these so far is that they are all

focusing on a particular person, who seem to be growing up from being a teenager. This

highlights the title ‘Coming of Age.’

We see the band begin playing the instruments so we know there is a performance element in this video. However the different people before all have a narrative in this video, and we could see the connections of what they are doing towards the end of the video.

We see this ginger boy intently staring at something, but we don’t know what this is yet.We see the girl we saw in the beginning sitting on her own in this crowded room, this makes us think maybe she struggles with talking with people.We also see a person’s point of view in the same playground we saw before. We see people reaction in a very uncaring way, by shouting and cringing.

As the beat kicks in, we see two people punching different people. We get the idea that the boy shown in the playground is being beaten up, and this boxer is losing the fight.We also see this boy being chased by police which gives shows us that there is a lot of rebellion and violence going on in the beginning of this song.

The lead singer begins singing and we see this, he describes see you “standing there like a rabid dog, and you got those crying eyes”, and we know that the people before are not happy and look upset. We then have an amplification of “crying eyes” as these are lapsed over him singing.

“Makes me wannasurrender” is sung when showing the boxers, implying that the boxer is struggling and cannot carry on fighting.The fight in the playground shows this eye contact between the boy being beaten and a girl, showing that actually she might care for him.“I’m always looking forward” is sung when a man on a motorcycle is “looking forward”, again a subtle amplification of the words.

The lyrics in this song are amplified very regularly, as now we see a couple sitting next to each other lovingly, and “while I’m moving ahead” is sang. This gives us the idea that the song is about growing up and starting to become a mature adult and fighting your own battles and making your way in life.

“Stepping away” is un-conventially shown now by the lead singer, when he pushed off this diamond whole in the wall. This shows that he is becoming stronger.

The chorus now shows different images again but of previously seen characters in the video. The boy being chased by the policeman showing him “coming of age”, as he is growing up into a rebel, and may be realising that what he is doing now has consequences.

The instrumental section between the verse and chorus is a chance for the band to show their full potential. We see them enjoying what they are doing from their smiles and head banging.

We see a short glimpse of what this ginger child was staring at, as we see a quick shot of a blonde lady in a red car. This could represent attraction as both these things are idolised by boys, and can be seen as ‘adolescent male fantasies’.

We then see the same boxer who was beaten up before training and getting into a mind-set of winning next time he fights.

Here we see the boy being bullied, and this links to the lyrics saying “when my fear pulls me out to sea”. He appears to have “enemies” from shouting and being pushed around by them.

This man seems to “protect (his) pride” by training enthusiastically in order to win his next match while he is still “too bruised to fight”, and then earn this pride.

Well I’m bored of the game are the next lyrics we hear, and we see a montage of peoples sad faces, expressing this emotion. We also see a glimpse of the boy dancing with a girl, at a formal event which makes us think by the end of the song, these people will achieve what they currently want in life.

Even though this girl seemed to be ignored at this house with other people, she looks happy when a man is taking her photo. This suggests that some people are actually very interested in her and she is now successful as well as happy.

The clichéd image of the red car is appearing throughout the video, and this brings a large interest into who is in this car and why it is so relevant to the song.

In the build after the chorus, we see the boy approached by a girl who has appeared before, suggesting they like each other. This makes us think that things will suddenly turn for him and he too will be happy. The image of the couple jumping in the water also shows them as happy and they don’t care about what they are doing.

The next images we see the boy pushing back against these bullies, and also the boxer is winning his fight. This brings in the title that they are “coming of age” and battling these situations life has brought to them.

This person is still very mysterious as we can’t see what he is feeling from his face; all we know is he has been driving for a long time, so suggests he is searching for someone.

We see how the red car is relevant, as the ginger boys eyes are focusing on a beautiful lady walking out, showing that he is “coming of age” and learning about attraction.

We can see that the man has finally found what he was looking for, and this is revealed to the audience as we didn’t know what his story was until the very end. He to has “come of age”.

The boy is finally happy with how his life is turning out by the end of the song, which shows that he has “come of age” and faced his difficulties in life.