15/3/24- music videos (17 going under)

17 going under- Sam Fender

Lyric analysis

I was far to scared to hit him

But I would hit him in a heartbeat now

Being older and more confident, Fender fantasises about hitting someone from long ago, and feels regret and remorse at not being violent.

She said the debt the debt the debt

The repetition here shows Fender's poverty and the endless cycle that clearly affected his youth.

Cold Septembers, the distances we covered

The fist fights on  the beach, the bizzies round us up.

The bizzies refers to the police and represents the police negatively and disrespectfully.

See I spent my teens enraged 

Spiraling in silence

Clearly angry at himself, Fender remembers his angry teen years and frustration of them.

Arm myself with a grin

This is clear coping mechanism has connotations of weapons, war and violence.

I remember the sickness was forever 

I remember snuff videos

Referring to videos of actual death and murder, Fender may be referring to how teenagers may share horrible videos to each other

I see my mother

The DWP see a number 

The Department for Work and Pensions decide who does and doesn't get benefit payments, and the repressions for those who reply on this. 

Media Language (Semiotics) Barthes

• Semiology is the study of signs. Signs consist of a signifier (a word, an image, a sound) and it's meaning- the signified
• The denotation of a sign is its literal meaning (e.g. the word 'dog' denotes a mammal that barks)
• Denotations signify connotations- the associations of the denotation 
• Denotations and connotations are organised into myths- the ideological meaning. These make ideology seem natural. For example, a Bulldog might activate myth of Britishness. 

   Representation- Hall 

• The idea that representation is the production of meaning through language, with language defined in its broadest sense as a system of signs.
• The idea that the representation between concepts and signs is governed by codes 
• The idea that stereotyping as a form of representation reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits
• The idea that stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power as subordinate or excluded groups are constructed as different or 'other'