Textual Analysis: Bruno Mars - Lazy Song

Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song

Genre Characteristics – I would say that the genre characteristic in this video definitely demonstrates pop music. This is because the artist ‘Bruno Mars’ is the centre of attention which indicates he is the pop artist. Also the 5 dancers (monkeys) mimic his behaviour which furthermore supports that this is his song and they are just an added element to the music video. The use of masks may also suggest they are not a band and that this is a solo artist.



Relationship between lyrics and visual – There is a narrative structure of the artist ‘Bruno Mars’ lip singing to the song and describing what he would usually do on a lazy day, (lip miming). The monkeys suggest connotations of being lazy and each monkey is used to illustrate significant parts of being lazy or what you or the artist would do on a lazy day. You get the impression this is what the artist would usually do on a lazy day because the monkeys are all dresses similar to the artist, representing key parts of his lazy personality. You get the illustration through the relationship between lyrics and visual. For example the lyrics “throw my hands in my pants”. This demonstrates what the monkeys are doing.

Relationship between music and visuals – You get a clear illustrated relationship between the visual and music especially during the chorus “today I don’t feel like doing anything (instrumental whistle)” the artist and dancers/monkeys move their heads to the beat of the music.

Close- ups of the artist and star images/motifs - You get many close ups  and single shots of the artist ‘Bruno Mars’ which further indicates that he is the star within the video. This is emphasised by the fact the dancers/monkeys are usually all in a shot together which indicates they are not significant because they are not the star of the video. Also all movement is associated around the artist which creates the idea that he is in control over the lazy personalities.

Reference to the notion of looking – There is one shot that indicates a reference to voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The artist sings “Find a really nice girl, have some really nice sex And she's gonna scream out this is great”. The link to female voyeuristic treatment of the female body is when another male actor mouths “She gonna scream out this is great” in a female voice.

Intertextual references- The artist makes an intertextual reference to a TV channel (first TV channel broadcast purely music videos). “Click to MTV so they can teach me how to dougie”.

Performance based, narrative based or concept based? – This video follows a narrative because each monkey portrays a particular personality of being lazy within an element of the song. This links to a concept because monkeys have connotations of being lazy which emphasises the meaning of the song .Also this video has an element of performance because the artist is lip- syncing in the video and towards the end plays the guitar along with the song which suggests an actual performance.