Group: Track Choice Treatment

Track of Choice – Amerika by Young The Giant (2016, Fueled By Ramen, from the album Home of the Strange)

Lyrics

And so I’ve arrived
With gold in my eyes
Are you paying attention?

I was searching for something
As I watched you run
I was sad when you said that you never really wanted some
Were you looking for someone?
As I watched you go
I am mad because I don’t know what you used me for
I’ve been looking for so long
In Amerika
Throw my hands in the air!

Flash faded
Say you care but you don’t
You know I hate it!
It’s a rich kid game didn’t grow up with a throne
It’s all it really is

I was searching for something
As I watched you run
I was sad when you said that you never really wanted some
Were you looking for someone?
As I watched you go
I am mad because I don’t know what you used me for
Always talkin’ ‘bout one day
In Amerika
It’s the same story
You want glory son
I’ve been looking for so long
But you cut me out!
Throw my hands in the air cuz I…

Your palace
All the friends you own
So jealous
Felt that rich kid pain what it is to be alone
It’s all it really is

I was searching for something
As I watched you run
I was sad when you said that you never really wanted some
Were you looking for someone?
As I watched you go
I am mad because I don’t know what you used me for
Always talking about one day in Amerika
It’s the same story
You want glory son
In Amerika! In Amerika! In Amerika!

Lyric Annotations

• This song is partially inspired by the book of the same name by Franz Kafka, and plays with ideas of the American Dream of the 1990s. It features contradictions between what those who sought out the dream expected from it – e.g. power, sex, wealth – and the disappointment that comes from the realities.
• “And so I’ve arrived//With gold in my eyes” here the ‘protagonist’ of the song has completed their journey to the promised land, and has laid sight upon the ‘gold’, the riches and fame that the country has to offer, on the surface at least.
• “I was searching for something” indicates that the traveller has been on a quest to find glory, power and prowess, everything the Dream has promised.
• “As I watched you run//I was sad when you said that you never really wanted some//Were you looking for someone?//As I watched you go//I am mad because I don’t know what you used me for” here, the singer laments as their pursuit of the American Dream parallels the love they feel for another. They feel conflicted and filled with frustration at being manipulated into believing an untruth.
• “It’s a rich kid game didn’t grow up with a throne//It’s all it really is” the American Dream is simply an illusion to those without already established finances, and as a result it’s something out of reach from the immigrants it was promised to.
• “Always talkin’ ‘bout one day//In Amerika//It’s the same story//You want glory son” the success and the idea of America being the place to be was something the singer was told about and promised so often by their own parents and family, but in the end, these proved to simply be stories.
• “So jealous//Felt that rich kid pain what it is to be alone”‘money can’t buy you happiness’.

Visual Ideas

• Aerial shot of a lone character walking in a deserted location
• Unexpected changes in location
• Tracking shots panning outwards (from character’s face to reveal their surroundings)
• Some lip-sync during a narrative performance, of key lines in song (Slow motion?)
• Emotions that emphasise the unavailability of the ‘American dream’ described throughout the song
• Slow motion shots of time passing yet our character moves at a normal pace
• Quirky and unexpected illustration of lyrics – see Vance Joy – Riptide MV
• Use of repetition combined with minor changes in set design/staging

Narrative concepts

• Rose tinted spectacles – the protagonist of our video embarks upon a pilgrimage, throughout which he considers a past relationship. In one regard, he looks upon it fondly, through rose tinted spectacles as it were, however when he takes them off, he sees the less optimistic and cynical truth behind what happened. By the end of the pilgrimage, he confronts his ex-lover, wishing to gain closure from all that conspired between them.
• Pilgrimage – a protagonist takes many journeys, seeking to find a place in which to belong. They travel far and wide however by the end of the video, they come to the conclusion that home is not a place they can mark on a map, and realise that it is an emotional concept, and that companionship and love are worth just as much.