This music video for "Whiskey Lullaby" by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss tells a narrative story that matches the song's lyrics. It shows a man returning home from war to find his wife cheating, which leads him to drink away his pain until he dies. The video uses techniques like two shots, establishing shots, and close-ups to visually depict the story and emotions conveyed in the lyrics. Costumes, props, and sepia lighting help set the time period and mood. The perspectives shift to match the lead singers in a way that makes the story feel more personal.

1. Brad Paisley; Alison Krauss Whiskey Lullaby. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZbN_nmxAGk&ob=av2e

2. In the book ‘Music video and the politics of representation’ Diane Railton and Paul Watson explain four types of music video. Brad Paisley’s ‘Whiskey Lullaby’ falls into the ‘Narrative Music Video’ category. This video is showing the audience the story in which the lyrics are saying. Also, one of Andrew Goodwin’s theories state that ‘There is a relationship between the music and visuals’ and also ‘There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, both of which explain the Narrative style of this video. The lyrics of the song are explaining about a man that comes home from time at war, hoping to finally start a family with his wife. When he comes home, he finds her cheating. The song continues with him ‘drinking his pain away’ until he’s ‘buried beneath the willow’. All of this is shown in the music video. There are a couple of parts in the song where there is some ‘Live Performance’. This just breaks up the video, giving it a personal touch by showing the artists that wrote this emotional song.

3. Camera Angles and Techniques. Two Shot – This shows us the two artists of this song. Brad Paisley is wearing a ‘cowboy’ hat, which works well as this is a country song. His guitar could be showing that he is vulnerable and hiding himself behind it, a guitar often symbolises emotion and connection. Establishing Shot – Shows the big, white, countryside family house. The guy walking up to it with his bag of things that he had when he was at war, in his uniform, you expect a warm welcome of him finally coming home safe. This ‘Dissolve’ shows the guy looking at photos of him and his wife from earlier times, then dissolving into a picture of him and his wife embracing. There isn’t any music playing at this point, this is a scene of just the actors. After this, the music starts which is the start of the ‘story’ (lyrics). Extreme Close Up – This is a close up of his face, showing his full emotion of what is going on within the lyrics . His eyes are red, there is a small part of his bottle it the shot, he is sweating, this shows the signs of an alcoholic, which is what the song is referring too ‘drinking his pain away’.

4. Mise en Scene – Props& Clothing. The outfit the singer is wearing is a typical ‘country’ style. With the cowboy hat, the shirt and also the guitar. Most country songs are guitar based and emotional, and even though the video is narrative, the ‘live performance’ shots verify the genre to the audience. All of the men are wearing war time uniforms. The ‘army’ jackets and a couple of the men are wearing green hats. This all shows us that they’re on a journey home from a war they’ve been involved in. They all look presentable, which is in complete contrast to how the main guys life turns out later in the song. This is a traditional old, white American farmhouse, with the classic red pick up truck in the yard. It’s quite basic, not very modern, so you can tell this is set around the 1940’s/50’s. It fits well with the country music, as it is set in a countryside area itself. This is a long shot showing the two main actors. In the background there is a red truck, it clearly stands out amongst all of the green in this shot. It’s an old American style truck. The woman is wearing a lace, puffy sleeved, gypsy style dress, along with his Army uniform, we know this isn’t a modern style video.

5. Sound.. During this shot, there is ‘diegetic’ sound. It’s the sound of his footsteps, this continues with the ‘realism’ of the video. This is the point in which the music starts. It starts slow and soft, fitting well with his emotion of just finding his wife cheating. During the viewpoint of the guy, the Male singer (Brad) is singing. From the viewpoint of the woman, it is the lady (Alison) that is singing the song. This adds to the emotion and understanding, as it makes it seem like the lyrics are coming from the actors themselves.

6. Lighting and Editing. These shots of the video are all in a ‘sepia’ tone, this highlights the fact that this is meant to be an ‘older’ style video. During their ‘happier’ times, the light is clear and bright, both of their faces are clearly showing. But once we get towards the end of the song and everything is going wrong, the light changes, and it gets dark so we can’t see the faces of the actors.