Music is used to express what an individual is feeling; there is a lot of revenge-themed music that has been played over the years, more recent than before. They portray these songs through music videos, in a cinematic way which excite and keep the audience interested and on the edge of their seat.
Meek Mill – Energy
Energy is a freestyle talking about how everybody wanted to be his friend but now everyone is against. The premise of the video and the song portrays revenge and hatred towards his enemies. I like the camera techniques in the video including the tracking shots and close-ups. I like how there are loads of people behind him implying that he has support. I like the concept as it has helped me as well because it made me be certain of what I don’t want as my final major project. Also, it taught be about what type of revenge it’s implementing along with how other people may feel which could be hurt and regret.
Justin Timberlake – Cry Me A River
Justin Timberlake feels no sympathy or empathy for the girl because she cheated on him. I like how close he was to the audience as I also think that he was engaging with the viewers and this makes people feel that they are present in the music video. Also, it evokes a sympathetic feeling towards Timberlake as he gets cheated on. I like Justin Timberlake’s characteristics and the way of thinking that was interpreted in this song. This song tells the whole story and therefore I enjoyed the concept because it is very personal as he explains how he found out the fact that she took a chance but it came back onto her as he also tells the girl how he felt about her and how much he loved her. The lyrics of ‘you were my sun; you were my earth’ shows this. It was also shown that the people involved in the video were telling him that she was trouble. This could be even more beneficial if I develop a story where the character cheats and gets caught. A type of revenge that he is displaying is the fact that he is never taking her back.
Carrie Underwood – Two Black Cadillacs
My interpretation of this song is that a guy was killed by two women that he was in a relationship with; his wife and another woman (his mistress). When they fulfilled their revenge on him, they feel no sympathy towards him because he did them wrong. The song tells us that his family thought he was a good man but they also knew different.
The song evokes ruthlessness support and interest in the audience which is good because people listen, memorise and understand lyrics. I think that this song may relate to some people because I believe that people want to take revenge on others but are holding back due to responsibilities etc. The lyrics in the song have an influence to the audience as it makes the listeners to vouch for the two women that killed him for cheating on them. I enjoyed the video as its colour grading is a grey and blueish colour which evokes a feeling of sadness and a vengeful emotion.
The video also shows you how he dies and that they killed him and I think that it is quite cinematic. I could use the sad atmosphere that the song evokes in my film. If my film has to evoke such feeling, I can look back on this song and reflect on how beneficial it has been towards my understanding on revenge, so I can use it to help my progression. I have more understanding about this context which is getting revenge on someone who did you wrong such as cheating. I think that listening to this song has been insightful.
Jazmine Sullivan – Bust The Window
The music video suggests straight away that the song will be about a broken relationship because of the guys attitude and the woman’s hurt expressions. The singing sounds confident but is hurt as she talks about busting the windows of the male’s car, she also mentions that ‘it didn’t mend my broken heart’ this implies that even though she is relieved from destroying parts of his car, she’s still hurting.These lyrics ‘I didn’t know that I had that much strength’ this explains that her act of revenge has made her realise she’s stronger than she thought she was. This song has taught me that although revenge might be slightly relieving and rewarding, the person that is inflicting the revenge is still damaged and may or not recover from the person they are seeking revenge on. furthermore, this made me think of how revenge has another advantage such as making a person stronger rather than the traditional feeling of happiness. This song has made me more about how people taking revenge on a person could make them realise that they are better and stronger than before and with this they can move on. For, example, the movie Enough starring Jennifer Lopez.
Slipknot – The Devil and I
The first few words of the lyrics are ‘ undo these chains, my friend. I’ll show you the rage I’ve hidden’ these few words already have connotations of revenge and rage, feeling that might have been held back and so he wants to show how he can take his revenge.The introduction was filled with loud instruments which hinted straight away the song might have a strong message or purpose. The music video was very dark including vulgar ‘creatures’ and mysterious characters. Also, the music video was quite disturbing; with masked human beings and animals such as blackbirds and a vicious dog.
Conclusion
Listening has furthered my perspective on the theme of revenge due to the music video and audio of songs. The majority of songs that I found when looking for music based on revenge was based on relationships, for example; songs like Bust The Windows and Two Black Cadillacs. I understood the definition of revenge a bit more due to looking up at the purpose of the songs and some of the reasons linked to previous research that I have already completed on revenge. All songs were based on personal vendettas which have expanded thoughts on my mind-set on revenge and relationships. I think that this piece of research has straightened out a lot more on what kind of revenge I could focus my ideas on and which I decided that it will be about taking revenge out on someone who does them wrong which is known as revenge on a personal level.
Stephanie Corr-Amajor 