Music Video Analysis - Maroon 5 "This Love"

Maroon 5 - This Love

Song Facts:

It is about a guy who thought everything was good but was blinded by the fact that the relationship was going to hell. She's left him lots of times, playing with his heart, but this time she's not coming back. It hit him hard, and it's like a permanent scar. He did what he could to keep her, but she's just never satisfied. He's playing love like it's a game, not taking it seriously, which angers her and causes her to leave. He wants to fix what's broken, and make everything better again. He just wants to love her, because it's what they both want, but when she left him for good, it hurt him, and he doesn't know if he can go through it again.

According to lead singer Adam Levine, this song is about how he was fed up with his relationship with Jane and how the record label was pressuring the band for more songs.

There are 2 versions of the video, both featured vocalist Adam Levine canoodling with his girlfriend at the time, model Kelly McGee. The second version is a censored version where flowers cover nudity.

Analysis:
The single “This Love” was released by Maroon 5 in January 2004, and was the second song on their album, “Songs about Jane” and reached No.3 in the UK Singles Chart. The song’s lyrics are based on Adam Levine's break-up with a former girlfriend. The songs genre is pop rock, although Maroon 5 cover songs at are alternative rock, pop rock and funk rock.

The typical conventions used in a music video of this genre are:
- Band Shots, whole band shots and performance clips
- High lighting
- Bright lighting, not natural
- Close-ups, and extreme close-ups
- Colour effects, often monochrome
- Fast-pace editing
- Straight cuts
- Panning
- Seductive pose from the female artists
- Deserted locations with straight forward narrative
- Guitar solos
- Voyeurism
- Urban locations
- Singing whist act

The Music Video was directed by Sophie Muller and combines a performance of the band in a courtyard with scenes of Adam Levine parting ways with a woman.

The camera positions in the scene of Adam Levine and a woman places the viewer in to the scene making us feel we are looking in, and invading their privacy. The audience is make to feel that they are looking in by the camera shots and positions used, and as they Levine is parting ways with a woman, and this isn’t something that is viewed in the real world as it’s something that is done between two people privately. The shots of Levine looking up at the camera when on top of the woman, brings us a little close to the action as the shot is a close up shot and this is closer than the viewer is used to, so the viewer may feel they are looking in on them while they share a private moment.

The editing of the video is effective as the video is cut to the beat of the song which helps illustrate the song. Through most the song straight cuts are used, and then the cuts are different near the end with only the people of the shot change from band members performing to Adam Levine parting ways with a woman.

There is a relationship between the music and video, and some lyrics seem to could have deeper meanings however it is how the viewer consumes the lyrics and music video.

Video effects are used for the censored version of the music video as CGI is used to censor the scenes of Adam Levine parting ways with a woman with computer generated rose petals. Both versions are available however the CGI edited version is used for the music channels on the television, and to access the uncensored version the viewer has to prove they are over 18 to watch the video on sites such as http://www.youtube.com/.

The video is set in a courtyard in Mexico, we later find how the floor is quite sandy and beach like when the lead singer of the band, Adam Levine, takes to the floor of the courtyard rolling around in the sand, which makes the courtyard seem a little more tropical, as it’s not the typical place where a band would perform in a music video as it normally is plain, and empty with clutter, and wouldn’t have sand, or blossom trees in fact. The other set in the video is a bedroom was where we see Levine parting with a woman which is an intimate scene which caused controversy when the uncensored video was released, a woman from “The Daily Telegraph” described the video as a “porno-pop video” which can be seen by many to be an absurd over-reaction. The pink blossom trees in the courtyard are a significant prop within the video as pink connotes love, beauty and glamour, although the songs involves love, it’s the break up and not the passionate love what pink connotes.