Lyric Analysis

As a group we discussed what we believe the hidden meanings of the lyrics to Noserings & Shoestrings by Indie artist Nina Nesbitt. We decided the most appropriate method of displaying our thoughts was to print out the lyrics and annotate it in as much detail as we possibly could. The song is about a young girl who is in a relationship with a misguided and lost young boy. She is very much in love with him but she doesn't know if she agrees with his view on life. 'Live fast and die young' shows that he doesn't want to grow up. He also has a drinking problem as he is a 'little obsessed' and 'hides a bottle inside his vest', the lexical choice of 'hides' shows he is hiding this habit showing that it does have an effect on him.

By analysing the lyrics of the song we then have the opportunity to dig deeper into how the artist was feeling at the time when she wrote the song. This will allow us to build more of a relationship with the artist ,and will also help Daisy who is playing the artist in our music video to understand how to act in the video. For example Nina nesbitt feels frustrated and sad towards her boyfriend's lifestyle therefore Daisy will focus on making her facial expression solemn and confused in order to seem as though she really is in the artist's shoes. We also intend for our artist to connect with the audience as our target audience is young girls therefore we expect most to have experienced relationships and problems within them. This will make the artist seem ordinary and relatable which follows Star Dyer's theory to present the artist as ordinary and an individual. 

By having the artist in a relatable situation, this will instantly give them the likeability factor and therefore it will enable for them to be seen as friendly and someone that people can listen to and feel like they are being understood.
The first paragraph of the song shows how the boy in which the song is about seems to be troubled and unhappy with life. The lexical choice of 'misguided' suggests that the character is on the wrong track in life and is involved with constant drinking and drugs.
The lyrics 'he doesn't know what he's worth', shows that he was low self-esteem and may not be happy with his life and the choices he has made therefore he needs the help of the artist/ song writer in order to make him feel happier.
 'But his self-confessed and a little obsessed', the lexical choice of obsessed shows that the character is extremely into his bad habits and cannot break free from them and they are taking over his life.

The lyrics ‘keep calm and carry on’ are almost representative of the artist talking to herself because she is unable to talk to her boyfriend due to his behaviour. The lyrics ‘he’ll sit with his guitar and play another song’ are employed and the lyric ‘another’ is extremely significant in illustrating how the artists boyfriend leads a repetitive life in how he acts and what he does. It also presents how the artist is becoming fed up with having to put up with her boyfriend’s behaviour and the lyrics ‘will he come tonight before it gets light?’ shows how the artists happiness relies on whether her boyfriend will return that night as she is constantly left worrying about him. The lyric ‘light’ also typically connotes a happy element, however the lyrics provide a contrast to this. Following this the lyrics ‘I guess he might’ portrays how she doubts him and their relationship but however has hope that he may for once return. At this point of the music video we hope to include a close up of the artist performing to portray her emotions in detail to her boyfriends’ behaviour which will allow the audience to engage with the song on a higher level


  

But he's self confessed and a little obsessed   Little obsessed shows he may be 
He get's money from his parents to try and impress         to drink and drugs
I guess that's adolescence at it's best         Youth

He's never put to the test but still distressed
And he keeps a bottle inside his vest       Hiding his addiction to alcohol
I guess that's adolescence at it's best

He says 'live fast and die young     He wants to stay young and just live life to the maximum
Forget the past and move on
What's done is done'

He says 'live fast and die young
Forget the past and move on
You only live once'

woa-oh-oh-oh
woa-oh-oh-oh
woa-oh-oh-ohoaoh

Hangs about at the skate-parks        Shows he is quirky and not main stream 
With his lighter and his pack of cards
And he's going nowhere

Maybe if life wasn't so hard
If he got off to a better start
He'd be somewhere

But he's self confessed and a little obsessed
He get's money from his parents to try and impress
I guess that's adolescence at it's best

And he's never put to the test but still distressed
And he keeps a bottle inside his vest
I guess that's adolescence at it's best

He says 'live fast and die young
Forget the past and move on
What's done is done'

He says 'live fast and die young
Forget the past and move on
You only live once'

woa-oh-oh-oh
woa-oh-oh-oh
woa-oh-ohohoohaha

Keep calm and carry on he's drunk all night long
He'll sit with his guitar and play another song
Then he'll give me a phone

Another 5am call sitting worried in my hall
Will he come tonight before it gets light?
Well I guess he might

And I'll just keep calm and carry on
Cause he's drunk all night long
But he'll be home by dawn

I'll keep calm and carry on
Whilst he's drunk all night long
Cause he'll be home by dawn

And he says 'live fast and die young
Forget the past and move on
What's done is done'

He says 'live fast and die young
Forget the past and move on
You only live once'

woa-oh-oh-oh
woa-oh-oh-oh
woa-oh-ohohoohaha

woa-oh-oh-oh
woa-oh-oh-oh
woa-oh-ohohoohahaoh mm mm

What's done is done



By analysing the lyrics to the song myself and the group now have a deeper understanding into the message that the artist wants to portray. We now have more of an understanding as to why the song was written and how the lyrics describe the state of mind of the artist when writing the song. This research has aided us in deciding locations and narratives for our music video in order for it to make sense. From the song we understood that the love interest was under bad influences and had lost his way with drink and drugs, therefore we felt  we could incorporate this within our music video.