CASE STUDY #2
Bruno Mars – The Lazy Song
Bruno Mars – Lazy Song
The Lazy Song is a song by the
American singer-songwriter
Bruno Mars from his debut
studio album, Doo-Wops &
Hooligans. It was released as
the third single from the album
on February 15, 2011. The song
was written with K'naan and his
production team The
Smeezingtons, who also
produced the track. "The Lazy
Song" displays influences of
reggae and Hawaiian music.
Furthermore, the song went to
number one in the United
Kingdom, becoming Bruno Mars’
third number one single in under
a year.
Narrative&Performance aspects

The Lazy Song includes elements of
narrative and performance however is more
focused on performance throughout the
video. Small narrative scenes include when
Bruno Mars sing ‘Meet a really nice girl and
have some really nice sex, and she’s gonna
scream out ‘this is great’’. This then shows
an actor (acting as the girl) who Bruno has
met and then says ‘Oh my god this is great’
showing mild narrative.

The rest of the music video shows Bruno
Mars singing with actors dressed as
monkeys dancing in the background. Bruno
Mars has used monkey masks as he is
suggesting he looks like a monkey, you can
tell this by them all wearing the same
glasses and similar outfits.
Another distinctive performance scene is
when Bruno Mars plays a guitar along with
the song whilst singing. This shows clear
Genre Conventions
The Lazy Song comes under the Pop/R&B
genre. Music videos that belong to the genre of
pop are usually extremely performance
based, with the singer, or band lip syncing
throughout the song, as well as performing via
dancing or in a narrative story that reflects the
meaning of the lyrics. The overall tone and hue
of the video will be very bright, with the artist
wearing bright trendy mainstream clothing. Pop
music videos are usually fun and light hearted
to appeal to a younger audience. Bruno Mars
has closely followed the idea of this genre
convention. His music video is highly focused
on performance with him singing
throughout, whilst performing to display some
form of meaning. The meaning of his song is
light hearted and contains humour, this is
exemplified through the use of monkey’s and
comical dancing. Bruno Mars is also wearing
mainstream, fashionable clothing. (Checked
shirt with all the buttons done up as well as
dark skinny jeans.) This allows the audience to
relate to him through their similar taste.
Lyrics and Visuals
The lyrics and visuals are linked closely
throughout the video. The lyrics quote
‘Don’t feel like picking up my phone’ and
Bruno Mars a long with the other members
in the scene use a hand gesture to
represent a phone in time with the song.
Lyrics also quote ‘Throw my hand in my
pants’. When these lyrics are sung, the
other members of the video place their
hands down their trousers whilst dancing at
this point of the song, continuing to show a
clear link between the lyrics and the
visuals. The song also says ‘Meet a really
nice girl’ this is when the character in the
background walks in acting as the
girl, whilst the lyrics continue to ‘Have
some really nice sex’ in which this is when
Bruno uses his arms to act out sexual
movements. The final clear piece of lyrics
linking to visuals is when Bruno says ‘let it
all hang loose’. This is when Bruno along
with the other members pull down their
trousers to represent they are letting
themselves ‘hang loose’. Whilst these are
the key links between the lyrics and visuals
there are also subtle links between the
music and visuals. This includes when the
song includes whistling or humming, Bruno
and his cast members act out this whistling
which could also suggest a link between

Case study #2

  • 1.
    CASE STUDY #2 BrunoMars – The Lazy Song
  • 2.
    Bruno Mars –Lazy Song The Lazy Song is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars from his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. It was released as the third single from the album on February 15, 2011. The song was written with K'naan and his production team The Smeezingtons, who also produced the track. "The Lazy Song" displays influences of reggae and Hawaiian music. Furthermore, the song went to number one in the United Kingdom, becoming Bruno Mars’ third number one single in under a year.
  • 3.
    Narrative&Performance aspects The LazySong includes elements of narrative and performance however is more focused on performance throughout the video. Small narrative scenes include when Bruno Mars sing ‘Meet a really nice girl and have some really nice sex, and she’s gonna scream out ‘this is great’’. This then shows an actor (acting as the girl) who Bruno has met and then says ‘Oh my god this is great’ showing mild narrative. The rest of the music video shows Bruno Mars singing with actors dressed as monkeys dancing in the background. Bruno Mars has used monkey masks as he is suggesting he looks like a monkey, you can tell this by them all wearing the same glasses and similar outfits. Another distinctive performance scene is when Bruno Mars plays a guitar along with the song whilst singing. This shows clear
  • 4.
    Genre Conventions The LazySong comes under the Pop/R&B genre. Music videos that belong to the genre of pop are usually extremely performance based, with the singer, or band lip syncing throughout the song, as well as performing via dancing or in a narrative story that reflects the meaning of the lyrics. The overall tone and hue of the video will be very bright, with the artist wearing bright trendy mainstream clothing. Pop music videos are usually fun and light hearted to appeal to a younger audience. Bruno Mars has closely followed the idea of this genre convention. His music video is highly focused on performance with him singing throughout, whilst performing to display some form of meaning. The meaning of his song is light hearted and contains humour, this is exemplified through the use of monkey’s and comical dancing. Bruno Mars is also wearing mainstream, fashionable clothing. (Checked shirt with all the buttons done up as well as dark skinny jeans.) This allows the audience to relate to him through their similar taste.
  • 5.
    Lyrics and Visuals Thelyrics and visuals are linked closely throughout the video. The lyrics quote ‘Don’t feel like picking up my phone’ and Bruno Mars a long with the other members in the scene use a hand gesture to represent a phone in time with the song. Lyrics also quote ‘Throw my hand in my pants’. When these lyrics are sung, the other members of the video place their hands down their trousers whilst dancing at this point of the song, continuing to show a clear link between the lyrics and the visuals. The song also says ‘Meet a really nice girl’ this is when the character in the background walks in acting as the girl, whilst the lyrics continue to ‘Have some really nice sex’ in which this is when Bruno uses his arms to act out sexual movements. The final clear piece of lyrics linking to visuals is when Bruno says ‘let it all hang loose’. This is when Bruno along with the other members pull down their trousers to represent they are letting themselves ‘hang loose’. Whilst these are the key links between the lyrics and visuals there are also subtle links between the music and visuals. This includes when the song includes whistling or humming, Bruno and his cast members act out this whistling which could also suggest a link between