TLC's 'Waterfalls' was released as their third single from their second album CrazySexyCool (1994). It reached top five in many countries, including spending seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. 'Waterfalls' is critically acclaimed as it received two Grammy nominations in 1996.
The song deals with controversial issues such as drug trade, promiscuity and HIV/AIDS. The music video reflected this with its use of props and its million dollar budget. The video won four MTV Music Video Awards in 1995.
This music video is considered to be iconic due to its large popularity and its ability to tackle controversial issues. The amount of awards/titles it has gained proves its success. Another way to tell that is is iconic is due to the fact it was released two years before I was born, yet I still know it very well.
The majority of the music video contains the three band members floating on water. Wide shots are heavily used to capture this, in order to show their somewhat magical effect. This also has religious references to Jesus walking on water, therefore it presents the women as being Holy and superior to others.Therefore it allows them to sing and present serious issues while seeming above them themselves.
Also within this water scene many close ups of the girls are used. These are frequently used in music videos as it allows the audience to see who is singing, and also to experience the emotion that the singer is trying to convey. This is also an example of Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' as the band members have revealing tops, and close up of their bodies are also used. The 'Male Gaze' suggests that all media which is presented to us is from a males perspective, and therefore focuses on women's bodies.
Cross cutting between TLC and the story line takes place regularly in this music video. This is used to create an association between the lyrics and story line, while still publicizing the band. It also shows the contrast between the almost 'Holy' band members, and the two controversial events of a drug deal/shooting and a two people being intimate. The three scenes are usually linked by fades, this creates a subtle effect and prevents harsh transitions. It also heightens the connection between the band and story line.
An overlay of a woman is used throughout the drug deal scene, this has been done to represent the boys conscious/ how the woman knew something bad was going to happen. Her distressed behavior foreshadows that something bad is going to happen before it takes place, therefore creating suspense for the audience to exhibit an emotional response. The woman's dress is a red colour, this represents both death/blood but also her love for the boy.
A birds-eye view shot is then used to show that the boy had been shot and was dying in pain, this also contains the overlay of the women. This shot presents them both to be inferior and weak as we are looking down on them.
This close-up of the man and woman shows the man with smoke coming out of his mouth. This suggests that the woman is almost like a drug, and has caused him a lot of pain. This is reinforced by the lyric of 'he takes a look in the mirror but doesn't recognize his own face'. Therefore this suggests that the woman has captivated and taken control over him so much that he lost himself.
Special effects are used within this video to turn the band members figures into water. By showing them to be water, it suggests that they are pure but also essential for life. Therefore reinforcing the shots of them walking on water,
Good Textual Analysis!
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