Textual Analysis 2 - Kings of Leon - Pyro

Kings of Leon was formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee by brothers Nathan Followill (drums, percussion, vocals), Caleb Followill (vocals, rhythm guitar), Jared Followill (bass guitar, vocals) and their cousin Matthew Followill (lead guitar, vocals). The bands current album 'Come Around Sunshine' was released on October 15, 2010 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.  In the UK, the album sold 183,000 units in its first week as well as breaking the record for biggest first week digital album sales by selling over 49,000 album downloads. It was the 11th biggest selling album of 2010 in the UK with 694,300 sales. The album had only four singles released from it which included, Radioactive, The Immortals, Back Down South and Pyro. Pyro was the second single that was released from the album on the 9th of December 2010. Kings of Leon main description of the song/video is that it is about a guy that was kind of fed up with it all and he thought that the world that he was living in wasn't the perfect world to him so he kind of goes and burns it down. It's just one of those songs where it's like it starts out with someone thinking they know how it's supposed to be and at the end it's like, 'I can't even be that way. Pyro falls into the Indie/Rock genre, which is a huge, broad genre, which is full of characteristics and motifs. Pyro expresses some of these characteristics, with lyrics relating to a topic of social concern, which is in this case about life itself. The video shows a man walking into a scummy bar, not knowing what life is really about, and the song continues to then reveal that the real side of life is being there for one another and helping each other, by the man walking around in the bar and noticing things provides a narrative part to the video.

The relationship between lyrics and visuals are sometimes abstract but really illustrative. The core themes of the song are obviously death/suicide and the loss of a loved one(s) coupled with the realisation that you will be around to support them no longer. The opening verse indicates an arsonist or someone who wants to start a fire and closes with the calling of the fire brigade (emergency service!). The video reflects this with the lead character bursting into the bar and immediately picking a fight with someone who can obviously hurt him or even kill him. In real life this would cause the barman or people around to call the emergency services (e.g police/ambulance). The lines 'single book of matches, gonna burn what's standing in the way' emphasises the character bursting into the bar, making out that he wants to cause a problem or start a fire eg. Fight, like a fire bursting into the room. This illustration continues throughout the video, and the words in the second verse 'bury all the pictures, and tell the kids that I'm okay, If'n I'm forgotten, You'll remember me fore today' emphasises the fact that everyone must die and we lose a love one, and this shown later in the video, where certain people around the bar become spirits and rise toward the light, metaphorically in this case heaven. Not only that but the people surrounding the spirits look like that they don't even notice that they are not even there eg. Looks as if they have lost them at an early time in their lives. The main character though doesn't have anyone one with him and doesn't fight back, which relates back to the first two lines showing that he doesn't give a care weather he lives or dies. More illustration becomes adrift when the chorus comes in stating 'I, I won't ever be your cornerstone’ relating once again to the fact the main character doesn't want to live anymore or be around anymore. Throughout the video there are most illustrative relationships between the lyrics and the video. There is a slight contradictive part in the video, where its states 'Once the show gets started, its bound to be a sight to see', where it shows a girl dancing on the stage and the main character getting beaten. This is contradictive as in normal life a show would be a positive eg. Seeing a band live etc but in the video they show the main character been beaten to death which in this case is the show and that it is going to be a sight to see. There is also a slight part of amplifying in the video as when the man dies in the video, you see him with rising up towards the light but at this time, you see other characters rising up the light with him, amplifying that they are all going towards the light, which in this case is heaven.

Kings of Leon have done an absolute amazing job with the editing of this music video, changing the visuals to the pace and tempo of the music. The first 17 seconds of the video, the music is gentle and calm and there is one whole cut which emphasises this, but as soon as the man enters the bar, the guitar and drums kick in relating to the lyrics also where he is bursting into the bar not caring. For the first minute of the video, there is just one shot, which tracks around the whole bar, showing the audience where the video is set and what it is about. After the tracking shot has been used it then cuts to a slow motion shot of the man being punched, once again relating to the lyrics at the begin, the guy entering the bar not giving a care and picking a fight with someone he knows he doesn't have a chance with. This is in coloration with the lyrics as there is a long holding note sung by the singer which really links well with he slow motion shot. It then cuts a few times to relate to the man getting beaten, which relates to a fight making it as quick as possible, but the slow motion shot is still continued to relate to the audience so they can understand what’s happening, and also to once again collates with the lyrics. The tempo of the song throughout now is at a steady pace but the editing has still quite slow cuts along with the slow motion effect still being used. This relates to the lyrics in the song as the singers talk about death and about that life doesn't always end up as everyone assumes it is and that everyone is going to die eventually. Also when the singer sings 'When the show gets started, I’m sure it will be a sight to see' the camera cuts to a women dancing relating to a show, which is going to be good to see but the reality in the video is that the show is actually the man getting beaten to death. There is also a very good and amplified cut of a women screaming with tears falling on her knees and this links really well with the lyrics as he screams the word I and it sounds like someone screaming their tears out. The music changes slightly with the dynamics and tempo as the song slows down when a man throws a baseball bat to his friend, giving the impression that the main characters time is up and that he is going to die and the change in music emphasises this. Then there are many cuts showing his body rise upwards, this is extremely clever as it shows that it is spirit leaving is body. This is amplified more as when it cuts to the mans face you can see that his face heals and it has been said that when your spirit leaves your body it is they way that you want your body to be. This is more amplified when other people around him then start leaving the ground and moving upwards and cuts link with the tempo and beat of the music to show each person leaving there loved one relating once again to the meaning of the song. There then is a really emphasised cut where the audience can see the a women and the man in shot looking at this light in the middle of the shot, emphasising that when you die, you see a bright light and go towards it. For the majority of the song, a slow motion technique is used throughout, although this doesn't relate to the tempo and dynamics of the song but it works as cuts occur when the music changes. Not only that but it relates to that death is quite and peaceful relating to the slow motion making out that it is calm and quite. Overall Kings of Leon and took a subtle idea and turned into something so personified to really emphasise the way of life.

Many people know what Kings of Leon look like as it many previous videos they have released, they are present throughout. They created an image showing that in most of their videos there are just performing with their instruments, as this relates to the people that they are and relates to the characteristics of the genre that they are in. Throughout the video the audience see the band many times playing the song within the set, but there are wearing clothes which relate to the setting that they are in, so they contrast between being the band playing a live gig there and looking like normal people in life. Both the video and the song give the viewers the feeling of the band being a school American band but they have a country and present influence with them in how they perform and what they wear. The record label for this song has focused on both promoting the single and the band themselves.

There is a slight intertextual reference to the song with the bright light being shown at the end with the film 'Ghost', where Patrick Swayze is a spirit without the film and then a bright light appears and light takes him from earth, this relates to the song as you can see at the end where everyone is spirits and moving towards the light. There is a saying where people say that when you die you see a bright light and it takes you from earth. This intertextual reference is a very good way to help the audience understand the idea and meaning of the song.