Riptide by Vance Joy Analysis (Incomplete)

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An Australian singer/songwriter Vance Joy who is known to belong to the genre of indie folk-pop. His first single Riptide sends an abstract yet profound message through a vague narrative which allows the audience to decode the messages themselves. Joy uses many idioms and metaphors in his lyrics to send a deeper meaning about the story he's trying to tell and uses it to link with the visuals of the music video. As a preferred reading, Joy may have wanted to convey the inevitability of a relationship, that you shouldn't become dependent on another person because you'll only be disappointed at the end.


The music video is made up of short jumpy shots similar to the style of a montage which does not amplify a clear narrative for the audience to understand .This quick pace rejects the conventions of  indie/pop music videos, it dismisses the repetition of the genre which tends to be melodic and less abrasive(Neale). However, Vernallis suggests that "each image will seem enclosed within its own semantic realm", which suggests that as each shot passes the narrative progresses. In Riptide the narrative may make some sense at the end of the video if the viewers decipher the messages as a whole. Some audiences may find this unconventional approach gratifying as it is something different/fresh and may relate to the video through the representations:the woman lip-syncing "the words wrong" and each shot taken of her she becomes more dishevelled and her makeup smudges, this can portray what a toxic relationship may inflict on a person. In the music video there's a significant focus on the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as the entirety of the visual aspects follow an interpretation of the lyrics. For example, "all my friends are turning green", we see a quick shot of a dollar bill which is used to suggest that all his friends are turning envious for winning over a beautiful girl and becoming very materialistic. The colour green connotes to "the seven deadly sins" of envy; furthermore this idioms illustrates the visual of money which links into the idea that women are objectified girl as a prize and that she is valued the same as money.
Another thing is that every scene with the lyrics "Taken away to the dark side", there is usually a woman being dragged into the shadows. The video notably refers to the Western and Thriller genres inspired by Wes Anderson films with horror genre iconography, although it is quite strange