'Sunshine' Textual Analysis

Here, I will be analysing the music video 'Sunshine' by the artist Matisyahu. With a Hebraic name, the American artist produces music of the Reggae and Alternative Rock genre. This video was produced by Kool Kojak for 2012 Fallen Sparks Records, fitting into the general Reggae genre by showing characteristics such as the establishment of the setting in a Western scene and this also being a relaxed atmospheric environment.

Firstly, when looking at the relationship between the lyrics and visuals these are seen to be both Illustrated and Contradicted. For example; 'So loose your backpack filled with sand'. At this point within the video, the lyrics are perfectly illustrated by the artist opening up a backpack, and letting sand pour out before throwing his bag away. Other lyrics may also illustrate the visuals but in a more subtle manner. For instance, 'All along I keep singing my song'. Here, the music video singularly shows visuals of a camp fire however, this usually congregates ideas of singing around the camp fire therefore, interlinking the visuals and lyrics at this particular stage in a less direct approach. The lyrics 'Its time for a champion, Soothe the soul of the land, Mend the heart from the sea and the sun, Until the sun come up again' are based on a biblical, Judeo ideology of a temple being destroyed then rebuilt. Although, this is not specifically shown by the visuals, religious iconography is witnessed with the artist wearing a Kippa. Furthermore, lyrics and visuals also contradict each other such as, 'On that day my song was born', where the camera is at a close up, tracking the artists face. This consequently, has no interlinking relations with the lyrics.

In comparison to this, I feel there is a fairly weak relationship between the music and visuals. From the beginning, the video cuts primarily to the beat, having only 9 seconds worth of diegetic sound as the camera shoots the artist on a bicycle at a variety of distancing shots. Despite the deep bass appearing later at 21 seconds in and the lyrics 3 seconds after this, the affect on the transitional speed between shots does not alter suggesting a weakness in the relationship between the music and visuals. Moreover, Reggae has a moderate tempo, with repetitive rhythms meaning that the transactional speeds of scenes should be constant, something of which the music video fairs fairly well too.

Apart from the track trying to promote the album and predominately sell as a specific music genre, I feel the main selling point for this song, is the message behind its lyrics. Regarding the meaning, the song is really about connecting with your past, reconnecting with your youth through memory, through meditation, through music – ways of going back. This therefore, applies to a wide audience, whether they are an adolescent, middle aged or elderly. Not only this but, religious iconography within could appeal to a niche theological audience. At the beginning of the video, a religious vote is displayed from the Exodus Bible (The second book of the Hebrew Bible) 
When looking at the artist throughout the video, he is seen to be the dominant figure. However, the artist is portrayed as a down to Earth man, wearing simplistic clothes of natural and neutral colours such as browns and blues. Furthermore, Matisyahu is seen to be a religious follower, symbolised by the black Jewish Kippa worn upon his head. With these characteristics, the audience are able to connect with the artist to a greater extent due to the feeling of mutual status. Moreover, this is opposed to an artist such as Chris Brown, where in his music video 'Fine China', his first appearance reveals him entering a wealthy neighbourhood within a Ferrari, something that most audiences are unable to relate to creating status inequality. 
Next, when looking at previous videos by the artist, these all commonly relate by showing everyday settings, which are neither extreme and ridiculously wealthy but instead, conventional to the working class. Moreover, the artist is also heavily featured in all of his videos therefore, promoting his image to the audience. However, the entirety of Matisyahu's videos slightly differ. For example 'One Day' shows the tracking of an everyday location in a monochromatic colour scheme, with the artist superimposed onto the background. In contrast, the video to 'King Without A Crown' starts in the same manner, with a monochromatic scene but later turns predominately into an animated lyric video, featuring the artist and band. Though concluding, I feel the artist keeps a fairly consistent image, also interminably keeping an illustrative relationship between his lyrics and visuals.

Within the video, there is a small section showing a noticeable reference to the notion of looking. However, unlike many music videos this is not in referral to sexual display. For instance, 'Guilt' by Nero, heavily plays on this division of looking, suggesting females to be sexual predators. Instead, the notion of looking I feel, represents that of a father looking out for his daughter. This can be seen when the artist is looking around the corner, situational to wear the children are playing. This is also evident at the beginning of the video, when the artist is looking at an old photograph. I feel these have been specifically included, to represent the deeper meaning of the song, possibly indicating the passing of someone within the photo or an alteration to the childhood that the artist had, of which he wants to pass down to the young girl thereby looking out for her intensively.

Unlike my textual analysis on the video 'La La La' by Naughty boy which included a wide range of intertextual references, 'Sunshine' does not. By the promotion of this video, other music videos and separate texts such as TV programmes are not supported. However, the filming of the music video has intertextual references with the star's image. The filming took place on a 3 day trip to Israel therefore, assisting the religious beliefs of the artist due to Judaism originating from Israel.

Penultimately, when considering the video production of 'Sunshine' the video is primarily Narrative-based, meaning that the video follows a storyline, which tends to apply throughout the whole video. This is seen here as a journey of which the artist is taking upon a motorbike, therefore exploring a single location in a variety of different outlooks. There are also a few areas where there is a minimal relationship between the lyrics and visuals, suggesting that the video could furthermore be moderately concept-based too. In contrast, it is clearly seen that the video is not performance-based whatsoever, this usually attributing to a girl or boy band of the pop genre. 


To conclude my textual analysis to the music video 'Sunshine' by Matisyahu, Reggae characteristics are witnessed throughout the video with the western environment and relaxed atmospheric setting. Furthermore, the video heavily plays to a large audience, due to the sentimentality of the meaning behind the song. Like previous videos, the artist promotes himself, being a key figure in all his productions. This helps to advertise the star's image, representing the artist as similar to that of his audience and therefore, excessively aiding a connection between the two. In other means, this is seen with a Illustrative and Narrative-based video, having a relationship between lyrics and visuals, creating a storyline for the audience to follow.