Song Choice - Analysis of Lyrics

Analysis of Lyrics for the Song "Stuey's Morris Isis"

I have chosen this song due to the high tempo sound from the band, and the lyrics the song possesses, as I feel that I can do a number of things in my music video in order to incorporate it. Below are the lyrics to the song, my interpretation of them, and what I feel I can do to follow Goodwin's Theory and incorporate their message into my video. 

Here are all the lyric to Not My Day's song, "Stuey's Morris Isis":

Passed out on the back seat on the nicest mead(?) on County Town Road,
savin' all my best thoughts for a time when they can be dressed up in gold(?),

fearin' that my face is heatin' up(? not sure about this entire line)

wondering round the top floor of a house thats worried me for so long, 
thinking walls like forgotten saws(?) weeping like the Willow Tree's arms,

tears of blackout falling without sound, creating ripples on the pebbles on the ground,
Penthouse or *Censored*house? (?), my house or your house? penthouse or *Censored*house? (?) BABY! YEAH!

*grunt*

Layin' on the bed and drifting in and out of listening to you, 
It's not you but I think it's me, thinking of the sound of that Willow Tree,

tears of blackout falling without sound, creating ripples on the pebbles on the ground,  
penthouse or *Censored*house? (?), my house or your house? penthouse or *Censored*house? (?) BABY! YEAH!

In the first two lines (highlighted in this colour) the listeners get the idea that Not My Day are describing a "night out", which is what a lot of Indie bands describe in their lyrics - who do this most notably are the Arctic Monkeys. In the first line, Not My Day describe someone who has passed out from drinking good alcoholic drinks (mead) in the back of their car or most likely a taxi. In the second line, Not My Day, or whoever they are describing, are talking about a lot of thoughts rushing into their head, but they are saving those thoughts for when they can be best released - meaning that it is not best for him to say what is in his head at that particular moment, due to who he is with or the content of those thoughts, and they are best saved for when he can think properly about what he wants to say because he is currently drunk.

In this line, (highlighted in this colour), Not My Day talk about an emotion called blushing, when the face/cheeks turn a shade of red when hot or embarrassed - the thoughts talked about in the earlier line could lead to this "face heating up" situation, as the thoughts may be embarrassing him or making him stressed.

In the next two lines, (highlighted in this colour), the audience get the impression in the first line that the person being described isn't supposed to be where he is - he could have woken up after being passed out and "wondered" around for a bit, finding himself in a house that he has never been in before but was always curious about it. Another theory is that this line is him in a dream state - he is still passed out in the back seat and is currently dreaming of walking around a house that scares him. The next line talks about the state of the house in my opinion - Not My Day are describing the inside of the house, comparing it to the eeriness and spookiness of a Willow Tree. Because of his drunk state, he could be hallucinating, thinking things are there when they're not, which is why the walls of the house are described this way.

Next is the chorus of the song, (which is highlighted in this colour). "Tears of blackout(?)" could mean that he is thinking about the nights events, and that there is a few things he regrets - he's not literally crying, as "blackout" means darkness, which could be linked to this as you can't see his tears. Also, as pebbles are hard solid objects, the power of his thoughts or regrets are creating ripples in the pebbles, treating something as strong and as solid as a pebble like a liquid. Powerful imagery. "Penthouse or *Censored*house(?), my house or your house?" describes the action of asking a girl out on a night out, which can be seen to many males the objective of going to a club. The repetition of "penthouse or *Censored*house(?)" signifies that he thinks of the girl's place as a penthouse, and he thinks of his place as a *Censored*house or a dump, meaning that he would like to go back to her place.

The final verse (highlighted in this colour), excluding the chorus at the end, possibly describes talking to the same girl after they went back to a house together, or it describes a different girl whom he is currently in a relationship with. He says that she is talking on the phone but he isn't really interested, indicating that he has heard what she has said before, or that he isn't interested in their relationship anymore. "It's not you...." signifies that he's trying to break up with her over the phone, and that particular lyric is used a lot to break up a relationship between a man and a woman. He doesn't like the sound of the Willow Tree, so he could be describing her as the tree itself.


As you can see, there is a lot of visual imagery and my interpretation of the lyrics that could and will be included in the final cut of my video for "Stuey's Morris Isis" by Not My Day, following Goodwin's Theory of there being a direct link to video content and song lyrics.

Image of the much-described Willow Tree