Lyrics Analysis

Roc The Life - Rita Ora: Lyric Analysis 

Overall the song 'Roc the Life' by Rita Ora carries the consistent theme of living 'the life', having big dreams and succeeding publicly. We get indications from this with lines such as 'The persona, it's primadonna' and 'Maybe one day, I'll be there. Beyond the stars, like a zillionaire'. When listening to the track, I also got the feeling that the song is told from the perspective of the artist to somebody else (i.e. Rita guiding her listeners through the journey of fame and the commercial yet glamorous ideology associated with that path). Due to this, my group has come up with an 'Alice in Wonderland' based concept where the artist leads the viewers or a dream-like journey into London where stereo-typically "dreams are made". 

My way in London, Americana
The persona, it's primadonna

These lines immediately bring the idea of fame and the high life style to light when they're sang by Rita. Straight away in the first line we get the mention of 'London' and 'Americana', two infamous cities which are known to be desirable, wealthy and full of atmosphere. This supports and suggests a modern and up-tempo feel to our video when we come to make it and gives me the idea that the performance/narrative has to be fast paced and modern as well as interesting (i.e. the London twist of Alice in Wonderland that we've considered in previous lessons of planning).
The song then goes on to speak about the persona being 'primadonna' which translates in simple terms to the 'leading lady' of a show or more modernly a Diva. This could be the first hints that our music video is in fact aimed more towards the female gender rather than male - however this isn't completely official and when making the video we'll still have to bare in mind that we don't want to exclude anybody who may fall under the broad R&B/Pop 'target audience' that we're reaching out for.
Since these are the opening lines, a camera shot such as a close up of an artist or an establishing shot could be used to get the audience familiar with either the setting of the video or the artist. It introduces vital parts of the music video straight away in order to make the music video relatable and familiar to the target audience. This is important so they can pick up certain themes, looks and connotations in the initial stages of the video - it sets the scene for them and says a lot about the song, its message and its genre.  

Kick a zillionaire to the cizzurb
You think you crazy, I'm berserk
"Kick a zillionaire to the cizzurb" also has suggestions of the whole 'primadonna' and rise to fame and success feel since 'kicking a zillionaire to the cizzurb' suggests that the aim is to kick someone who's already made their money from being successful off of the top place and to presumably replace them. Rita then goes on to sing "you think you crazy, I'm berserk" which again emphasizes the idea of taking risks and being hungry to get to where the artist wants to be. This fuels the idea of showing power and representing our artist as a dominant and stylish female.

 I'm off the chain, you gotta love it
I can't express enough, how bad I want it
Maybe one day, I wanna be there
Beyond the stars, like a zillionaire
The lyrics "Maybe one day, I wanna be there. Beyond the stars, like a zillionaire" clarifies the dream of wanting to become a 'zillionaire'  and earn her place at the top spot. Supported by the concept of "maybe" which contrasts with "how bad I want it" as it emphasizes that even though her desire for success and to live the London/Americana life is strong, it's still a dream as it is for a lot of people. "Beyond the stars" also suggests how this dream of hers is almost out of reach - which gave us the idea of basing our video around the journey to fame rather than an actual celebrity who's already made it just showing the typical conventional features such as cars, clothes, money and other luxury items. 

I brought my clique up in here
Put them diamonds in the air
You can hate this all you want
But we gon' take this everywhere

Don't pay them, no never mind
You're just a waste of time
They be watching from the sideline
This section of the song is almost contradicting that feeling of the London style being out of reach and gives us a snippet of Rita's feeling of empowerment and the idea that even though what she wants to do may be impossible, she's going to go for it anyway.  The final three lines "Don't pay them, no never mind. You're just a waste of time. They be watching from the sidelines" gives the impression that the artist is also describing how they're aware and comfortable about leaving people behind to watch and she rises and succeeds in what she wants to do. Again, Rita's stressing the image and representation of her being an independent and self-assured women giving her the 'primadonna' edge which ties in with the initial points about London style itself. 

While I roc the life li li la la li li life
While I roc the life li li la la li li life
While I roc the life
The chorus is pretty self explanatory, 'While I Roc the Life'  following from 'They be watching from the sideline' talking about how Rita doesn't mind living and fulfilling her dreams while people sit back and watch, somewhat giving her listeners the impression that it'd even give her satisfaction for people to do so. When we come to film our music video, I think it's important that we make sure our artist is represented as powerful and independent as well as push forwards the dream like, wonderland feel that we also want to be present and not want to lose throughout. 

I see the lights, see the money
Super glamorous
Fresh off the runway
Wanna be infamous

Notorious as directed
According to us, whiskey nights
Gettin' it in to tear blowing money fast
Get it again
The first four lines in this section "I see the lights, see the money. Super glamorous, fresh off the runway, wanna be infamous" once again presents the idea of dreaming and a sense of 'want'. This is where I think the possibility to make our setting of London City to look as desirable as possible, including shots and frames of the most glamorous parts of it in order to relate the music to the visuals. Following this, the second lot of lines are almost insinuating that Rita already possess the fame and lifestyle she wants - or it could be perceived as what she'd do when she finally reaches her goal. Either way, it's selling the lifestyle to her listeners. 

Write my name on stars
So you can see it
Wherever you are
Please believe it
I'mma take it all
Ain't gonna stop
Until I fall fall fall fall

This bridge almost comes across in a prayer like style, it's much more raw and broken down than the rest of the song and the beat gets heavier. I feel like it's almost the climax of the song and if we were to look at it in relations to the video, it could possibly be the make or break of the dreams that have been sung about throughout the song or even more so, the make or break of the person trying to make the dreams a reality.

Micro-Elements we've considered using

 Since "Roc the Life" is an R&B track it'd be conventional to make the music video a performance styled video which is what we plan to do as it is also the easiest way to show the artist and her style. However, after analyzing the lyrics in further death, I think it'd be really nice to add some narrative as the lyrics in the song are often covered up quite a bit by the dominating beats yet the lyrics really do have deeper meaning, going past the materialistic glamorization and Rita's rise to fame, so I think with some more brainstorming and further analysis, we could come up with a narrative that emphasizes them well to our target audience. Other micro-elements I think I want to consider are:

• Making women look the more powerful/dominant - as seen in videos such as Rita Ora's
• Materialistic Iconography to an extent - i.e. clothes and jewelry
• Some metaphorical items to unveil the hidden meanings - Alice in Wonderland book, Star, Mirror, etc...  

California King Bed - Rihanna: Lyrics Analysis

After analyzing "Roc The Life", the song that we plan to do our music video to, as a group we decided to analyze the song "California King Bed" by Rihanna - an artist Rita gets compared to a lot. While the two are often classed as 'similar', this song by Rihanna is a lot more heart felt and the lyrics talk about how Rihanna is close to the subject of her song physically but emotionally their seperating and how she's not prepared to let the distance win just yet. 

Chest to chest, nose to nosePalm to palm, we were always just that closeWrist to wrist, toe to toeLips that felt just like the inside of a roseThe opening line of "California King Bed" describes how close Rihanna is to the subject of her song literally. From these lines we can pick up a clear physical attraction for instance from the lines "lips that felt just like the inside of a rose" which is a simile for how it feels when the two of them kiss. These opening lines also establish that the song is a love song as once again we pick up the themes of being close physically as well as the reference to a "rose" which has connotations of romance. 

So how come when I reach out my fingerIt feels like more than distance between us?This line goes on to contrast what Rihanna's been saying about closeness in the first verse and throws a rhetorical question to the audience and possibly to the man she's singing about signalling that she senses something wrong in the relationship. While the first part of this section of the song says "reach out my finger" which suggests that she doesn't have to stretch that far to physically touch the man laying besides her, the emotional mentality and state of mind between the two lovers have a distance that's much bigger and emphasizes that while they're still together, problems have caused them to grow apart - adding a tragic and sad emotion to what started out as a love song. 

In this California king bedWe're ten thousand miles apartI've been California wishing on these starsFor your heart on me, my California king"California King Bed" in the chorus once again emphasizes the fact that these lovers are romantically involved with one another hence the "bed" and that Rihanna is comfortable in the relationship, also the "California" possibly suggesting how they're in exactly the same state and are in reach of one another when looking at the relationship from a literal and physical point of view. However, the line that follows "We're ten thousand miles apart" gives the ideology that "California King Bed" could possibly have different meanings to what we originally thought. For instance, California being a big state just as a "king size" is also big - acting as physical metaphors for the space between Rihanna and the subject in her lyrics. She also refers to her lover as her "California King" which suggests that even though there is distance and complications between them, he's still special to her and doesn't want anybody else. 

Just when I felt like giving up on usYou turned around and gave me one last touchThat made everything feel betterAnd even then my eyes got wetter
This part of the song which is also known as the bridge describes the turning point in the story of the relationship that Rihanna's lyrics have been describing. "Just when I felt like giving up on us, you turn around and gave me one last touch" once again brings in the physical references with the word 'touch', reminding the listeners that this man is still very much in her life but followed by the line "that made everything feel better" suggests that the 'touch' she sings about could possibly be the two of them becoming in touch with the others mentality and states of mind for a split second which fuels the faith she originally had in the relationship that was hinted to at the beginning of the song in the first verse. "And even then my eyes got wetter" insinuates that she'd been crying before hand possibly due to recognizing that things weren't working out, but now she's crying more tears of happiness because the two of them have made that connection again. It could be fair to say that the bridge is the climax of the narrative in the lyrics, where the song goes from a sad message to a more positive turn out. 

So confused wanna ask you if you love meBut I don't wanna seem so weakMaybe I've been California dreaming
The interesting part about this second half of the bridge is that Rihanna goes back on herself within the meaning of the lyrics. While in the first half she was talking about restoring faith into the relationship, she's now going on to express her confusion and how she's not sure if what's happening is legitimately the resolution to their problems. "Maybe I'v been California Dreaming" goes back to California being a big place which consists of places like Hollywood and Los Angeles known to be desirable which connotes how her hopes for their romance rekindling could possibly just be hopeful dreams that will more than likely not happen for her. The bridge on a whole helps listeners evaluate and see both sides of Rihanna's feelings when talking about the subject. 
Summary 
Comparing "California King Bed" to the lyrics of our selected song "Roc The Life" has helped me realize how it is vital to capture and emphasize key meanings in lyrics within the visuals of the music video and to take care when picking whether the music video will be concept, performance or narrative. For instance, while "California King Bed" is very much an emotional and personal story incorporated into lyrics which may make some assume that it's best to use a narrative based videos, analyzing the lyrics shows that there's a lot of emotional metaphors within the song and since these are hard to physically show, maybe it'd be better and more appropriate to use a performance based video to give the opportunity for a lot of close-ups so that the audience can see the emotions of Rihanna during the song. Arguably, Rita Ora's "Roc The Life" is the reverse - while the lyrics to this song are a lot more bold and materialistic, there are a lot of key themes and ideologies behind the lyrics which are accessible for our group to play with and possibly come up with a narrative which fits these concepts, however a performance based video could also work well with our song too.