"Let You Go" by Chase and Status is a song in the same genre as Magnetic Man's "Getting Nowhere", and the artist has an urban theme appealing to a modern audience; much the same as the audience that Magnetic Man appeal to.
Lyrics
You say,
We can't go on this way,
Things have got to change,
When your gone,
And each day,
A choice gets made,
You think it's yours to make,
But your wrong,
There's nowhere to run,
No place you can go,
Nowhere you can hide,
Where you won't be found,
There's no place on earth,
Where you could lay low,
Wherever you are,
I will track you down,
There's no way in hell,
I will let you leave,
Let you just get up,
And walk out on me,
There's no way on earth,
Hell would have to freeze,
More than twice before,
I will let you gooooo!,
let you....go!,
I will let you go!,
There's no way on earth,
Hell would have to freeze,
More than twice before,
I will let you go,
Let you...go,
You say,
We can't go on this way,
Things have got to change,
When your gone,
And each day,
A choice gets made,
You think it's yours to make,
But your wrong,
There's nowhere to run,
No place you can go,
Nowhere you can hide,
Where you won't be found,
There's no place on earth,
Where you could lay low,
Wherever you are,
I will track you down,
There's no way in hell,
I will let you leave,
Let you just get up,
And walk out on me,
There's no way on earth,
Hell would have to freeze,
More than twice before,
I will let you gooooo!,
There's no way
I will let you go!
Let you go!,
I will let you go!,
There's no way on earth,
Hell would have to freeze,
More than twice before,
I will let you gooooo!,
Let you....go!
The lyrics to this song are fast paced and short with pauses and breaks for drum beats and instrumentals, and the song is largely based around the instrumentals of the song it being a electronic song. The lyrics describes how there are choices in life and that there are consequences for some choices that you may make. The song's key lyric is "let you go" and the defiance that the character will have in letting someone go. A scene from the video to represent this would be in the TV studio within the first scenes, where the man is accused of openly using drugs in front of his child, yet his girlfriend still wants to be with him and to give him a second chance.
Music
The song has a varying tempo, and this is suited to the music video. The tempo starts slow and this is followed by a slow introduction of the 'Patrick Chase' character in the TV studio. When the tempo of the song picks up so does the emphasis on the serious story behind the music video, and so shots become shorter in length and cuts become closer together so the audience feel a faster pace of movement. The tempo of the song also slows in the middle, and this is where is to be shown buying drugs and prostitutes. When the tempo picks back up, you see the use of drugs and the prostitute and again it emphasizes a more serious and dramatic situation. Also there are large breaks between lyrics where instrumentals are played compromising of synth, drums and bass which also helps develop a faster tempo with the video.
Slower Tempo
Faster Tempo
Genre/Mise en Scene
The genre for this music video is electronic dance, drum and bass. There is a strong theme in the video of urban and there is also a rather unique theme of 'celebrity goes off the rails' and shows a side to a public figure that isn't usually demonstrated, but the video shows it very effectively through location and mise on scene. The video mixes both celebrity and urban feel, so shows a dreary area but an expensive suit or an alcoholic in what seems an expensive "a list" bar.
Camerawork
The cinematography used in this music video is key and helps create a variety of different meanings, and uses a good range of shot length, angles and is well framed to create meaning. In the opening scenes, there is good panning of the camera to show the Patrick Chase audience and is of mid length shot. This creates a feeling that they are behind and respect him, and support his opinions of the people on his show. The angles are regularly low so it shows he is in a position of power and authority. However the shots outside of the TV studio are mainly close up, and this gives an alone feeling towards the character, and that what he is doing to others and himself is respected by nobody. Although some angles are low these are used to demonstrate his drugged madness and show him to be in no control of his own and not his own power or authority.
Editing
The editing of the music video very much flows with the pace of the tempo of the song. Where there is a slower tempo there are longer shots and longer takes, with cuts not representing great movement or time between the shots. The cuts are also softer and not as sudden, and so represent him having a calmer feeling. When the song goes into higher tempo, particularly in the climax of the song the shot transitions are much harsher, sudden and fit the beat of the song, giving a sense of rush and anxiety, and also a feeling that the character is completely out of control. This is shown by the car crash in the video, the continued use of drugs and also the drinking, all these 3 factors shown in the space of 3 fast paced cuts showing very effective use of rapid editing.
Intertextuality
This music video has a take on reality chat show programs like the Jeremy Kyle Show. It shows a male in dominant power in front of an audience dealing with domestic troubles like cheating and domestic violence. This video deals with the issue of drugs within a family and the repercussions that that can have within a family and the opinions of his audience, as well as his own hypocritical opinions which is demonstrated more as the video goes on.
Narrative
There is a strong narrative in this music video. It describes a different celebrity lifestyle than the typical one the public hears of, and shows uniquely how celebrities can get deeply involved with affairs, drugs and prostitutes, factors you would not expect a public role model to be associated with, especially such a role model that hosts a TV show arguing against and making examples of those that do get involved with drugs and mess up themselves and their families. The music video shows him spiral out of control when he induces a mad night of alcohol and drugs, yet still turns up to film his TV show the following morning, showing him to be a hypocrite and holding a hypocritical narrative for the music video.
Voyeurism
Sex and sexuality is used in the video, and shows almost a need for this character to have sex for his own personal gain or even to get a kick or buzz out of. He uses women as objects and so uses the first girl for sex and takes no notice of the children, which we are never told if they are his children or someone else's. This keeps an urban theme of "single mum runaway dad" strong. Another example of sex and sexuality used in the video is where the character pays for a prostitute, again demonstrating almost a need for him to have sex for an adrenaline rush, and also maybe a feeling that he has to feel loved and appreciated by women showing his insecurity as a celebrity.
By Tom Beal
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