Music Video Analysis - Not Nineteen Forever

1. MusicVideo Analysis – ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ – The Courteeners
For my analysis of the music video ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ by The Courteeners, I will be
basing my points for discussion around the characteristics of music videos displayed by
Andrew Goodwin in his book ‘Dancing in the distraction factory’ (1992). The six key
features that Goodwin outlined in his work were:
- That the music videos would demonstrate a large number of genre characteristics.
- That there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visual aspects of the video.
- That there is a relationship between the music and the visual aspects of the video.
- That there is a need for lots of close-up shots of the artist to make the video more
personal.
- There is frequent reference to the notion of looking and there is also a very
voyeuristic portrayal of the female body.
- There is also often intertextual reference to Film and Television etc.
I have chosen to analyse The Courteeners song, ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and as a group
we agreed that it was particularly key to analyse this video as it is obviously relevant to
us as a group , linking in perfectly to the other videos we have analysed from similar
Indie bands such as The Libertines.
I have decided to work through the
video chronologically and talk about
the video almost shot by shot to
comment on the video’s content in
relation to the rules set out by
Andrew Goodwin. In the opening
sequence the four band members are
shown sat round a table in a café and
as the camera zooms in over a five
second period the video cuts to our
first series of close ups, the first close
up focuses on one of the artists
drinking his coffee before the use of
different planes of focus to show the
band’s frontman Liam Fray beyond
the other band members who are
shown out of focus. The use of close-
ups is particularly common
throughout this video and these
particular shots are included early on in the video to establish the relationship between
the viewer and the artist and also to create an immediate image of the band that will be
repeated throughout to create a personal and intimate feeling to the video. The first
series of close ups are again succeeded by yet more shots that bring out the finer details
in the gestures and actions of the band members, these typically depict either the flow

2. of conversation between them in the
café or in terms of the props including
the mugs and salt, a rather
stereotypical British breakfast which
suggests a sense of tradition and
patriotism. From the coffee the video
cuts to the first two pieces of evidence
for both a relationship between the
lyrics and the visuals and the music
and the visuals through the use of lip
sync as the band’s frontman is sat at
the table. The first two shots of the lip
syncing are both close ups however
the camera shows a long shot as he
continues to lip sync amongst the
other band members who continue
their conversation and are seemingly
unaware of their cinematic presence
and the relevance of any lyrics. This is
done to put emphasis on the idea of
having one member of the band who is
at the forefront of proceedings and is
to be seen as more significant to the
viewer which is the reasoning behind
directing the audience’s attention onto
one of the four men. Shortly after the
previous shot there is a more direct
link this time with relation to a connection
between the lyrics and the visuals as the lyrics
‘said would I like to go for tea and toast?’ are
synced before the video frames to show tea
and plates for toast in an close up aerial shot of
the table where they are sat, this allows the
audience to gain an image to add to the what
they are already hearing therefore giving them
a more developed understanding of the video’s
storyline were it not already obvious.
The video then cuts again to a more
interesting extreme close up of the lip
syncing, showing the finer details of
the face and facial expressions of the
artist which allows the viewer to feel
closer to the artist and feel a sense

3. again of intimacy and exclusivity. Proceeding
this we almost get a lack of context to the video
as we get several shots either side of close ups
that show a teenager or young man running
away into the darkness and there is the
suggestion that the man shown running is the
artist when he was younger in his attempt to get
away from his problems and avoid getting his
life together in the sense that his youth is
running out and this interpretation of the clip
relates directly to the meaning of the lyrics
themselves. There is also a suggestion
towards the notion of looking with
this clip as the artist is shown to rub
his eyes as his recollects what
happened when he was younger and
how he personally remembers it. The
use of Mise-en-Scene is also key in
suggesting that the young man is the
artist of previous times as both the
running man and the artist are
wearing an orange/red sweatshirt or
jacket which connects the clips together
and gives them a sense of continuity and
therefore not leaving the audience
thinking of the switch of story as
random or unexplained. The position of
the colour within the frame is also
relevant because they are all placed at
the bottom of the screen to draw your
attention back to that recurring point in order to allow you to make the link between
the two men. With the shots of the young man coming to an end there is the first
reference or inference for the potential of voyeuristic treatment of women and the
female body as a woman enters the room with the band members, the shot is in slow-
motion which suggests a certain captivation of the band members who recognise how
attractive she is and to put emphasis on her presence in the room, which is shown

4. almost from a point of view shot which
could suggest that the video is
designed to make you just as focused
on the woman as the people within the
video are. Not long after her entrance
we get two close ups in quick
succession that are part of a shot
reverse shot as the shots go from the
woman, to the man and back to the
woman from a different angle. This
duo of shots again references
Goodwin’s idea of the notion of looking
through an eye line match to create a
sense of closeness between the two
characters who dominate throughout
the video, making them significantly
more important than other members
of the band for example. After a
continuation of close ups that again
help to develop a relationship between the artist and the consumer, the shots of the boy
running into the darkness reappear and there is a relationship between the lyrics and
the visuals displayed once more as the lyrics speak about how the boy is ‘not nineteen
forever’ with the suggestion that he is trying to cling onto his youth and freedom and
that instead he needs to sort himself
out and ‘pull yourself together’. The
correlation between the colours of the
sweatshirts and the clips cut between
the boy and the man are also evident
as they were previously to infer that it
is in fact a flash back from when he
was young.The topic of the flashbacks
in terms of wanting to be young again
could be made relevant also to the
characteristics of the indie or indie rock genre in which is not uncommon for videos to
tackle more difficult and detailed subjects or to have storylines that are more complex
and potentially confusing/harder to follow unlike the pop genre for example where the
storyline is less developed because
there maybe isn’t for something to
match the lyrics due to them being less
meaningful or just because of the
difference in target audience. A large
number of the shots that follow show
the woman shouting at or arguing with
the band’s frontman and a number of
the shots are close ups or extreme
close ups and these help to extenuate

5. her features which the video wants to direct your attention to through the mild use of
voyeurism. The woman in the video is however never sexualised as such but there is a
direct focus on her and her actions like in many videos. In terms of the editing
techniques in the video there is the use of a match on action which shows the woman
during the argument from a variety of different camera angles with a quick cutting
editing pace to emphasise both her anger and the intensity of her words which is also
done through the slowing of her movements and gestures in these interludes. For a final
time we cut to shots similar to the previous of the young man wearing red running
without direction into the darkness
however this the young adult who
was framed before becomes a young
boy of school age wearing the same
clothes (and colour) and this again
links to both the lyrics where in these
clips ‘not nineteen forever’ plays over
the top and also to the idea of
wanting to stay young and avoid
resposibilities. The transiton from man to boy could also infer a longing for simplicity
and an easy life that the frontman knows he can no longer have deep down. This could
also suggest innocence and naivety as children should not be faced with problems and
worry. Amidst these shots the viewers focus is homed in on shots of seemingly
insignificant things such as the pouring of salt onto the coffee table and the tapping of a
spoon against the surface however I feel as though these could again reiterate his way of
thinking in terms of how uninterested he has become in growing up and halting his
immature and unneccesary actions