I have created a narrative analysis of the music video 'Celestica' by the artist 'Crystal Castles', although indietronica music videos tend to have no narrative within the videos this song choice shows a slight amount of narrative within the music video. I have also explained in minor detail the contrast between the video and the lyrics at moments within the music video. Furthermore I have also focussed on the hidden images connected between the video and the lyrics.
As we fall into sequence
And we're eating our young
Remain silent and still for modesty
When the splints have been broken
And they can't help you now
Do you pray with your eyes closed naturally
At the beginning we see the singer walking through a forest
as she sings the lyrics, there is no narrative towards this moment. However we
can notice grave stones as she’s walking through which shows that the video is
set within a church and cemetery area. When noticing these grave stones it
relates towards the lyrics ‘do you pray with your eyes closed naturally’ which
shows the religious side towards these lyrics. It represents an idea of the
Christianity religion, which is a popular religion within Britain.
Follow me into nowhere
Woven with the utmost care
The video at this point shows children running around and
images of water with the sun gleaming on it. This can show the lack of care
children have and the freedom of water itself. However the lyrics don’t seem to
narrate towards the video and appear to not relate to the video whatsoever at
this point. Furthermore it could show a deeper meaning within the video and lyrics
at this point.
If I'm lost please don't find me
If I jump let me sink
We descended from no one
With a wink
The video shows the singer as she’s walking through the
forest singing the lyrics, the video itself doesn’t appear to show any
narrative towards the lyrics however the singer being in the forest can show
the vulnerability and relate to her being ‘lost’ as it says in the first lyric.
This could also show the singer wanting to be alone in such an area that she
could commit suicide, as the lyrics seem to show the idea of suicide. This
could also relate to the previously seen images of tombstones and graveyards,
however the camera cuts to a shot of a child dressed in black standing by a
tombstone which could show the symbolisation of death within these lyrics.
When it's cold outside hold me
Don't hold me
When I choose to rest my eyes coax me
Don't coax me
When it's cold outside hold me
Don't hold me
When I choose to rest my eyes coax me
Don't coax me
During these lyrics we see a close up of the singer as she
lies on the grass wearing all black during the night. The video seems to have
slight narrative to the lyrics as it seems like a battle of life and death
that’s being shown in the video which is a similar idea as to what the lyrics
are showing. Then there’s a cut after the fourth line which shows children running
around a grave yard which again symbolises an idea of death within the video
and the lyrics at this point.
Follow me into nowhere
Woven with the utmost care
These lyrics don’t narratively match the video as we see a
close up of the singer continuing to sing the song whilst lying on the grass
during the night time. The idea of nowhere could be perceived due to the
darkness and how nowhere can be seen at this point in the video, as the only
main focus of lighting is shown on just the singers face. This could create an
idea of the narrative following her as she goes into this idea of ‘nowhere’
that has been created within the video.
Have they cleansed you with chloride
And scrubbed behind the knees
Has your body been hollowed by the breeze
These lyrics again don’t match the videos narrative as we
continue to see a close up of the singer as she sings the song on the grass at
night time. However the last lyric is
sang in a dark area where we can only see the singers face in a medium close up
which can give the idea that her body is hollow in itself which could match the
lyrics, furthermore the lighting only really highlights her eyes, heavy
shadowing is created underneath her cheekbones which can give an idea of her
cheekbones being hollow which again relates to the last lyric.