Gabrielle Aplin is a 22-year-old English singer-songwriter. The music video for her song "Panic Cord" depicts her reminiscing about a past romantic relationship through flashbacks of memories with her partner. Scenes from the video reflect the lyrics of the song, showing keepsakes and experiences from their time together. While some flashbacks show them happy, others show a disconnect between their feelings. At the end, she walks away from the relationship, suggesting she blames herself for its demise through the lyrics "Maybe I'm the one to blame."

1. Panic Cord – Gabrielle Aplin
Annabel Street

3. • Gabrielle Aplin is a 22 year old, English, singer-songwriter.
‘Panic Cord’ is her third single released from her debut
album ‘English Rain’ in 2013.
• The video is very conventional for a folk pop/singer-
songwriter track.
• The first shot we see is the artist from behind (a shot which
I first thought was unconventional for music videos,
however I have often noticed it in this genre when
deconstructing videos). This shot distances her from the
audience as she has her back turned on us and is not
making direct contact.
• The high key lighting of the shot, along with the plants and
the use of white clothing, bedding and shutters, gives a
calm and innocent tone to the video. The colour white also
has connotations of virginity and perfection suggesting the
peaceful nature of the artist. These themes automatically
make the audience feel relaxed.

5. • This two shot shows the artist with a man,
who has just given her a flower and suggests
the theme of the song is romance. Both
characters are smiling, implying, as we don’t
hear any lyrics at this point, that the song will
be positive.
• The use of the colour white again (flowers)
carries on the impression of innocence and
purity.

7. • Conventionally, close up shots are used when the
artist is lip-syncing. However, she doesn’t look at
the camera to create direct ‘mode of address’
giving a sense of realism – we are looking in on
her life, not being spoken to.
• It is clear that she is singing about someone else -
we assume the boy we saw previously.
• In one case, an extreme close up is used on her
mouth, cutting off her eyes. This further
distances us from her.

9. • We then see the artist open up a box and start
pulling out different objects. This matches the
lyrics ‘you kept all the things’ and ‘we’re just a
box of souvenirs’. This shows Goodwin’s
theory of visuals which reflect lyrics in music
videos.

11. • Throughout the video we see flashbacks of the
girl and boy taking part in different activities
that include the objects from the box.
• It is clear that there are good memories and
bad memories. In some of the clips she looks
bored while he looks happy. This goes with the
lyrics ‘maybe you were happy, I was bored’,
again showing Goodwin’s theory.

13. • At the end of the video it is clear that they
have broken up as she walks away. As she is
leaving, we hear the lyrics ‘Maybe I’m the one
to blame’ suggesting she knows she had done
wrong and it’s her fault they broke up.
• The camera follows her instead of the boy,
and as she has more screen time, we feel
more sympathetic towards her rather than
blaming her for the situation.