A2 Media Studies: September 2013

Below are the lyrics to my chosen song; Dissolve me by Alt-J

Now dissolve me, two tabs on your tongue

A herd of shepherds to herd the sheep, sleep now my only one

Broken sweethearts who sleep apart

Both still pine for the other's side spine, spoon as sleep starts

And pulse to pulse, now shush

She makes the sound, the sound the sea makes to calm me down

I am see-through, soap sliver you're so thin

As I begin rubbing lathers up your state worsens on my skin

And gold, fatless finger to lip, one two three four hush

And pulse to pulse, now shush

She makes the sound, the sound the sea makes to calm me down

She makes the sound, the sound the sea makes. I'm tired now

Oooohhhh, Oooooooooohhhhh, Oooooooohhhhhhhh, Oohhh, Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh

She makes the sound the sea makes, knee-deep in the North Sea [8x]

I feel like this song is definately about his struggle to sleep and remembering how his mother would 'calm him down' My initial thoughts about the first line was that the song may have been about some sort of drug trip, but reading into it a bit more i think they may be a reference to sleeping tablets, dissolving on his tongue which cause him to 'count sheep' in an attempt to help him sleep. I feel that the first verse if a memory of his mum and how he misses her helping him sleep and how they used to spoon as he started to sleep. 'Pulse to pulse, now shush' also reoresents his mother putting him to sleep or how they would lay together.
   'She makes the souns the sound the sea makes' is a direct memory from the singer, it is him telling us exactly what his mother used to do- because of this line i would like to give my video a sea theme
    The 2nd verse is a bit obscure and at first impressions it doesnt seem to fit, however it may show that she might have been ill 'you're so thin' and that he was taking care of her, the use of 'gold' here suggests that she might be wearing a wedding ring, 'one, two, three, four, hush' would be the last thing she says to him before he sleeps and so it is the last line in the last verse.
   The dynamics and tone of the song give the impression that they are replicating the behaviour of the sea as sometime its peaceful and calm and other times it is rough and fast paced, towards the end of the song it starts to calm down, this reflects him going to sleep and finally feeling at ease when he has his mother by his side

I thought it would be a good idea to tweet Gus-Unger Hamillton, The keyboardist for Alt-J, just to try and find out what the initial interpretation for the song was

Here is the song on sound-cloud;

On this track, Alt-J have commented the meaning behind the song and I thought it was such a nice meaning and I wouldn't have known if they didn't say because it is a personal thing, here it is (Read in reverse);

"Alt-J frontman Joe Newman recalls in this song a childhood bedtime ritual where his mum would lull him to sleep by making ocean noises.
Many fans have interpreted the line "two tabs on your tongue" to be about acid, but that is not the case. Newman explained to NME that he, "imagined a pill that you could take that would dissolve a memory of someone."
The song ends with the lyric "knee-deep on the North Sea," which is a reference to jazz outfit Portico Quartet's Mercury Prize-nominated debut album. Newman explained to NME: "The title song ("Knee-Deep in the North Sea" ) is the best song of the noughties. They were such a huge influence."

Taken from songfacts.com

A2 Media Studies

Pages

Planning: Treatment

Planning: Ideas from music videos

Planning: Music Video Pitch

Planning: Dynamics graph for chosen song

Planning: Analysing Lyrics of Chosen Song

Independant research: Further information

Research and Planning: Audience Research

Research: Audience research