You found me- The Fray (Homework) Ella Croft

You found me- The Fray (Homework)

Genre: I would say this genre is Indie. This genre is very specific as it has a romantic theme going on such as “You found me “meaning two people found each other. I wouldn’t say this song is very obvious with its genre but I would say Pop as it is a boy band singing about love. Pop music mostly aims at a teenage audience which this song does.

Conventions: Lyrics such as “Where were you”, and “I’ve been calling” can imitate a break up. A romantic break up could be the story line for this song.

Iconography:  In the music video certain edits show how the artist is feeling for example there is a 2 second shot of a female lying on the floor with her eyes shut with paramedics around her. It then jumps to the main singer saying “where were you.” This could show that he is waiting for her to come see him but she has had an accident. The story line could be about losing someone you love. When the lyrics “Losing her, the only one that has ever known” it is an edit of him looking down in the dark and then a short edit of the girl being taken away in an ambulance. This shows his sadness about losing her as well as the video showing us what’s going on in his head.

Generic themes: The themes of the texts its self are a little confusing for example the lyrics “On the corner of First and Amistad.” The word “Amistad” means friendship which could imply that the girl he is singing about is only a friend however later on in the song the lyrics are “Everyone ends up alone, losing her” This could imply that he lost the girl he loves which contrasts with the quote before. I believe the lyrics are feeling him about his heartache “Losing her” and his frustration with himself “Who I'm not, who I wanna be.”

Characters: In the music videos there are two main characters one is the main singer. He is being portrayed as a sad man who is frustrated about losing the girl he loves. The other main character is the girl who has been in an accident, she makes it clear that it is her he is sad about. There are also less important characters such as a little boy who looks up to him.

Expectations: I would say the text fulfills the audience’s expectations as it is very clear that it is a romance with a heartbreak. The lyrics are also repeated a lot to show the listener that he is trying to tell you something about how he’s feeling for example “Lost and Insecure” is repeated three times.

I believe that the text does go with the characteristics of pop music. Pop music usually includes

• Aims to appeal to a wide audience, rather than any subculture or ideology.
• Verse-chorus song structure.
• Recording and production is considered more important than live performance.
• Usually around 3 minutes in duration.
• Dance orientated rhythms.
• Attempts to follow current pop culture trends.
• Focus on melodies and catchy hooks.
• Chorus usually contrasts melodically and rhythmically with the verse.

I believe this song can link to all of these bullet points. However as this song is more slow paces then a lot of other pop songs this could mean that people can’t dance to it which is one of the main features of pop music. I also believe this song is a mic between rock and pop because of the pace and instrumental choice.