EXPERIENCING MUSIC VIDEO CAROL VERNALLIS EXPERIENCING MUSIC VIDEO AESTHETICS AND CULTURAL CONTEXT C O L U M B I A U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S / N E W Y O R K ColumbiaUniversityPress PublishersSince1893 NewYork Chichester,WestSussex Copyright(cid:1)2004ColumbiaUniversityPress Allrightsreserved ColumbiaUniversityPressgratefullyacknowledgespermissiontoreprint selectedpoems(pp.253–269passim.,thisvolume)fromAnneSexton, TheCompletePoems(Boston:HoughtonMifflinCompany,1981).Reprinted bypermissionofSterlingLordLiteristic,Inc.CopyrightbyAnneSexton. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Vernallis,Carol Experiencingmusicvideo:aestheticsandculturalcontext/CarolVernallis. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferences(p.)andindex. isbn0-231-11798-1(cloth:alk.paper)— isbn0-231-11799-x(pbk.:alk.paper) 1.Musicvideos—Historyandcriticism. 2.Musicvideos—Socialaspects. I.Title. pn1992.8.m87v47 2004 780.26(cid:2)7—dc22 2003064605 A ColumbiaUniversityPressbooksareprinted onpermanentanddurableacid-freepaper. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica c10987654321 p10987654321 DesignedbyLisaHamm CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction ix I THEORY 1 Tellingand Not Telling 3 2 Editing 27 3 Actors 54 4 Settings 73 5 Props and Costumes 99 6 Interlude:Space,Color,Texture,and Time 109 7 Lyrics 137 8 MusicalParameters 156 9 ConnectionsAmongMusic,Image, and Lyrics 175 10 AnalyticalMethods 199 II ANALYSES 11 The Aestheticsof Music Video:An Analysisof Madonna’s “Cherish” 209 12 Desire, Opulence,and MusicalAuthority:The Relation of Musicand Image in Prince’s“GettOff” 236 13 Peter Gabriel’sElegyfor Anne Sexton:Image and Music in “MercySt.” 250 Afterword 285 Notes 291 Bibliography 323 Index 329 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I WOULD LIKE to thank the many friends andcol- leagueswhosharedtheirideaswithmeonthesubject of music video and read all or parts of the manuscript: David Bordwell, Nicholas Cook, Ken Dancyger, Simon Frith,ToddGitlin,DeeDeeHalleck,DanHallin,KenHil- lis, Tim Hughes, Anahid Kassabian, StevanKey,Helene Keyssar,EricLyon,GeorgeLipsitz,JeffMelnick,Richard Middleton, Ann Miller, Mitchell Morris, Will Ogdon, CatePalczewski,JannPasler,LeenkeRipmeester,Joseph Rubenstein, Ron Sadoff,JonathanSchwabe,JesseSwan, and Margaret Vernallis, as well as my students at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and the Uni- versityofNorthernIowa.IdedicatethisbooktoCharles Kronengold in recognition of all that his interest, criti- cism, and supporthavemeant. Chapter 2, “Editing,” was previously published as “The Kindest Cut: Functions and Meanings of Music Video Editing” in Screen; chapter 7, “Lyrics,” was pre- viously published as “The Functions of Lyrics in Music Video” in Journal of Popular Music Studies;andchapter 11, “The Aesthetics of Music Video: An Analysis ofMa- donna’s ‘Cherish,’” was previously published as “The Aesthetics of Music Video: An Analysis of Madonna’s ‘Cherish’”in PopularMusic. INTRODUCTION I LOVEDMUSICVIDEO beforeitexisted.Asayoungteen,Iwouldstay up to watch Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert or The Midnight Special on tele- vision. Not much was happening in those programs, it now seems clear, but atthetimeIwastransfixedbytheimageofthemusicianperformingoncamera. One day, as a graduate student without cable, I was at a friend’s house, and thetelevisionwason.HementionedMTV,andIturnedtowardtheset.What I saw, Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love,” was beautifulsomehow.Asadoctoral student in communication, I was well aware of the role of mass media as a shaper of ideology, with its aims to turn Americans into consumers and to inculcate a way of thinking that made the wide gap between the wealthy and the poor appear appropriate and natural. But I felt excited about this video, whichseemedtometopossesshumanisticandcelebratoryfeatures.Ibecame an avidwatcher. Music video fit my needs. I have a B.A. and M.A. in music and had been workingacrossdepartments,puttingmusictofilmsandwritingmusicformy own images. I wanted to discover what kinds of relations music, image, and lyricsmightcreate.Iknewthewaysmusicfunctionedintheserviceofnarrative film,butIwonderedwhethermusiccouldplayapredominantrole,oratleast an equal one. Such a body ofwork existed—experimentalfilmandvideothat explored music-image relations—but it was small. Music video seemed the thing to study in the 1980s because it resembled a laboratory where relations among music, image, and text could be tested. All kinds of videos seemed possible,thoseinwhichthetonalityofthevideochangedsothatviewersfound themselvessomewherenew,orsomewhereinwhichthestarsnevershowedup. I stayed with music video while earning my doctorate in communication and have continued with it as a college professor. My research has demanded that I become an omnivore: music video belongs somewhere among music, film, television studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies, and communication studies, as well as philosophy, theater, and dance. Manyscholarshaveworked on the topicofmusic video,includingAnnKaplan,AndrewGoodwin,Simon