Music video analysis #2: Papa Roach

Scars- Papa Roach
Scars was released in 2005, acting as the band’s comeback single, it also became the bands biggest hit, peaking at #15 in the U.S. The song deals with getting tired of trying to fix everyone else's problems, but having a hard time because you care so much. You can't stop caring, so you tear yourself open for the people you care about, and then ‘heal’ to prepare for the next time you have to do it. And then, at one point you still care, but you just can't do it anymore. You have to tell them, "You fix yourself”.

There are two videos that have been released for this song. One of the videos tells the story of the singer’s girlfriend who is always drunk. She ends up getting too drunk and passes out at a party at his house. She wakes up the following morning and grabs her coat, knocking a candle onto a mat stained with alcohol, consequently setting the house on fire. The singer then returns home later in the video to find his house burnt down.

The video I am analyzing however is the original video that the band were not pleased with, therefore they re-shot, creating the one mentioned above. In the original video, all of the scenes are computer generated, with the band and other actors superimposed into them. The video is shot almost entirely in a black and white, in a surreal, fictional world. In this video the protagonist tries to help his girlfriend, who keeps using him to her advantage. Until the end, when the man realsies his mistakes and overcomes his problems.

The video contains a narrative story as well as performance based, shots, making it a combination of the two. During the video only particular focus features can be seen in colour, during the narrative storyline. The red thread, the protagonist uses to sew himself up with, is particularly effective as it attracts the audience’s attention as it is key connector between the lyrics and video, which can be seen when the lyrics, “I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut” are heard.

“My scars remind me that the past is real , I tear my heart open just to feel", these lyrics are also incorporated in the song at numerous occasions, emphasising the video on screen.

The constant use of CGI is also extremely effective as it increases the surrealism in the video, such as the doors, ‘protecting’ the characters hearts, the falling clocks and multiplication of the protagonist as well as the location, where the band are ‘performing’, allowing the audience to empathise with the ‘victim’ (protagonist) as his thoughts are project to them.



Paul Birchmore