Music Video Analysis - Geri Halliwell - Luke

The second music video that I am going to be analysing is 'It's Raining Men' by Geri Halliwell. The music video was directed by Jim Canty and Jake-Sebastian Wynne. The song fits entirely into the 'pop' genre of music and follows the general characteristics of there being lots of bright colours and dancing. The video is mainly performance, but also a short narrative section at the beginning of the video which is made to look like the film that the song features in.

Alright!Humidity is rising, barometer's getting low
According to all sources, the street's the place to go
Cause tonight for the first time
Just about half-past ten
For the first time in history
It's gonna start raining men.

It's raining men! Hallelujah! It's raining men! amen!
I'm gonna go out to run and let myself get
Absolutely soaking wet!
It's raining men! Hallelujah!
It's raining men! Every specimen!
Tall, blonde, dark and lean
Rough and tough and strong and mean

God bless mother nature, she's a single woman too
She took off to heaven and she did what she had to do
She taught every angel to rearrange the sky
So that each and every woman could find her perfect guy
It's raining men! Hallelujah!
It's raining men! Amen!
It's raining men! Hallelujah!
It's raining men! Amennnn!

I feel stormy weather
Moving in about to begin
Hear the thunder
Don't you lose your head
Rip off the roof and stay in bed

God bless mother nature, she's a single woman too
She took off to heaven and she did what she had to do
She taught every angel to rearrange the sky
So that each and every woman could find her perfect guy
It's raining men! Yeah!

Humidity is rising, barometer's getting low
According to all sources, the street's the place to go
Cause tonight for the first time
Just about half-past ten
For the first time in history
It's gonna start raining men.

It's raining men! hallelujah!
It's raining men! Amen!
It's raining men! Hallelujah!
It's raining men! Amen!
It's raining men! Hallelujah!

There are a lot of links between the lyrics and the visuals in the video. On of the clearest links that can be seen is when the camera echoes the use of 'humidity's rising' and the camera rises and tilts to show her body. This visual also represents the stereotypical male gaze when looking at a woman.

Another section of the video where the lyrics represent the visuals is where the location/setting of the music video links with 'the street's the place to go'. What we see when this lyric is sung is the entire cast of the music video move out onto the street and start dancing on cars.

There is also a strong relationship between the music and the visuals, with the video cutting to the beat of the music. As the bet gets faster and faster the further you get through the song the cuts get faster and faster, matching what we see with what we hear. An example of this is how at the beginning of the video there are very long cuts, creating tension as we wait to find out who the woman is that is about to dance. Then, as the music starts the cuts get quicker and she starts to dance. The cuts and visuals fully emphasise the change in pace of the music.

Seeing that the track is the main part of the soundtrack for the film 'Bridget Jones' Diary', the inclusion of clips from the film within the music video means that Geri Halliwell and the music video acts almost as a promotional tool for the film. Intertextual references also feature within the video, with several links to the film 'Fame' and 'Flashdance'.