Analysis of the lyrics to something in the water by Carrie Underwood

1. Lyrics Analysis: Something in the Water – Carrie Underwood
He said, "I've been where you've been before.
Down every hallway's a slamming door."
No way out, no one to come and save me
Wasting a life that the Good Lord gave me
Then somebody said what I'm saying to you
Opened my eyes and told me the truth."
They said, "Just a little faith, it'll all get better."
So I followed that preacher man down to the river and now I'm changed
And now I'm stronger
There must've been something in the water
Oh, there must've been something in the water
Well, I heard what he said and I went on my way
Didn't think about it for a couple of days
Then it hit me like a lightning late one night
I was all out of hope and all out of fight
Couldn't fight back the tears so I fell on my knees
Saying, "God, if you're there come and rescue me."
Felt love pouring down from above
Got washed in the water, washed in the blood and now I'm changed
And now I'm stronger
This could be
representing setbacks in
life or lost opportunities
and is suggesting how
this is inevitable in
anyone’s life.
This could be suggesting
that someone or
something has
encouraged her to see
something about herself
that she couldn’t before
so it could be effective
to use a close up on the
character to symbolise
this
Important to the overall
message of the song and
trying to give the audience
advice that they could
apply to their own lives
about having more faith in
themselves. It may be
effective to use a low angle
shot here to suggest a
situation becoming better
for the character and give
the audience the
impression that they are
aspiring to better things,
encouraging them to do
the same.
The song seems to start
off implying that the
person singing is
currently in a bad place
in life which could be
represented easily in a
music video by showing
a character in a difficult
situation
This suggests a very significant
event happening suggested by the
way it hit her “like lightening” that
caused the artist to have a
complete change of mind set and
begin to overcome difficulties that
they were experiencing at which
point we could use fast cuts to
symbolise the new ideas that they
are realising.
This would promote a positive image in
the audience as it shows that a
character has overcome something and
is a better person because of it. I think it
would be very effective to use high key
lighting during these parts to represent
a more positive atmosphere.
Encouraging people to
overcome difficult situations
when you feel like all hope is
lost. I think it would be
appropriate to use fade
transitions at this point to
represent a changing
mindset.

2. There must be something in the water
Oh, there must be something in the water
And now I'm singing along to amazing grace
Can't nobody wipe this smile off my face
Got joy in my heart, angels on my side
Thank God almighty, I saw the light
Gonna look ahead, no turning back
Live every day, give it all that I have
Trust in someone bigger than me
Ever since the day that I believed I am changed
And now I'm stronger
There must be something in the water
Oh, there must be something in the water
Oh, there must be something in the water
Oh, there must be something in the water
Oh, yeah
I am changed
Stronger
I'm free
This is a significant turning
point in the song which brings
a more uplifting tone as the
character has overcome the
difficulties they were
experiencing and is much
happier for doing this which
causes the audience to
question their own
circumstances. This could be
represented in a video by a
character reacting to
completing a difficult task.
This is a very significant point to leave
the audience on as this holds
connotations of being free from self
-doubt that was present at the
beginning of the song and shows
development which is something the
audience could aspire to. I think this
could be well represented by a
doggicam camera movement as it
suggests freedom.
This suggests the
importance of being open
to change and the attitude
that you should have to
deal with it. This could
cause the audience to
revaluate their approach to
change and could be shown
in music video by showing a
character about to go
through a big change and
how they deal with this.

3. Summary:
In summary, I would consider using these lyrics to produce our own music video as upon closer
analysis, I think they portray an important message about becoming a stronger person which could
potentially have a powerful effect on the audience, especially when combined with a meaningful
narrative and is something I would personally find interesting to create. I think these lyrics would
definitely enable us to achieve a good balance between performance and narrative elements as
there are some parts of the lyrics where the meanings are more literal which we could possibly use
for the performance elements and then during the points when more meaning can be implied, we
could use these parts to create a narrative showing, the development of a character therefore
having the right balance between the two elements and an important impact upon the audience in
my opinion.