Hey all!
So you might remember Lucy Spraggan from The X Factor back in 2012, but she had to quit the show due to an illness, and finished in 9th place! She was known for performing a lot of her original songs, and I must say..I still remember most of the lyrics to 'Tea & Toast' as I know a lot of people can relate to that song in particular. She's released little bits of music over the last year including 'Flowers', 'Sober', Roots' and 'Run', and has released a music video for her newest single 'Animal'. Her nw album 'Choices' is due to be released on 26th February (so lucky I managed to get in a quick music review before the big day). Without any further delay, here's my review of the music video!
At the beginning of the music video, you can see the camera pan in a kitchen and shows Lucy and a manager having a discussion about how she'll always late to work - and this could be a throwback to the job Lucy had before appearing on X Factor or wanting to get into the music industry properly. She's seen getting into her car, and it's great to see how much she has changed since being on television! Her tattoos are on show, and her newly dyed red hair is seen in tight braids (which suits her a lot). One of the opening lines is 'call me what you want, but you're right I'm an animal' which could mean that she's had a lot of negative abuse from people, but actually, being called an animal is a compliment, because she understands that she's not human.
The overall story of the music video is that she is preparing herself for a boxing fight against somebody who she might not like, or because there are connotations of her being this 'animal like' character, her aim is just to beat whoever she is up against in the ring. There are some nice video shots of Lucy walking up a selection of stars and into the boxing venue where she gets into the ring and begins practicing with her coach...(who is super attractive might I add). In addition to the shots themselves, I liked how dark some of the shots were, as it brought focus on Lucy - especially from a bit of a distance away from the camera, you were still able to see the silhouette outline of her figure.
Another one of the lyrics was 'play by the rules, that nature won't use' which could identify that she follows her own rules, and although people might not be understanding or accepting of them, they are still ways in which she can achieve what she wants to achieve, in a non-ordinary way. Playing by the rules is something that I've always done, but also not playing by the rules shows that you're not scared of doing this differently to other people, and I think that's the message that she is trying to convery through this video. You can succeed, but you don't need to be a follower...set your own trends/rules! The lyrics further go on to explain that she is 'trusting my instinct, I'm not going to listen, crawl around on my belly' which are all lines to explain that she's thinking with her head rather than her heart, and the idea of 'crawling' gives me an idea of relating that back to a baby / young toddler, so she's more likely to just get up and give life whatever she's got, rather than giving up and getting emotional about things!
Some of the shots later on in the video are really nice to watch, especially the panoramic shots of Lucy in the ring where you can see her preparing for her big fight towards the end. Lyrics for this section include 'translating this voice in my head and it's constantly roaring' which could show that there are always thoughts going on in her head, whether it's ideas or negative energy, and the best way for her to utilise all this energy in a positive way, is by fighting! Therefore, she's not hurting anybody, and she's able to potentially stay fit whilst also remaining positive. The lyrics go on to say 'finally finding my calling' which could either mean that boxing is the new sport that she can connect with, or that she's finally coming to terms with which direction she wants her life to go in, and there's been a lightbulb moment that she has been able to discover.
I was mainly trying to listen out to the lyrics in the chorus, and they are 'feed me to the lions, throw me to the wall, drop me to the floor, I ain't ever gonna crawl' which all seem like quite negative/unlucky things to happen to somebody, and it relates back to that meaning of, it doesn't matter what bad things happen to her, she's going to stay strong and continue fighting for what she wants in life. Some of those lines could also relate to mental abuse as well as physical abuse...'throwing somebody to the wall' could literally mean being pinned up against the wall, but also could identify that somebody might have opinions and ideas forced upon them, when they don't necessarily agree with it, but they feel as if they can't speak out of place otherwise something will happen to them as a result. The fight scene at the end of the video is also quite dramatic, and at first you see that during their fight, both of their coaches are waiting on the sidelines ready to intervene when necessary, and Lucy is knocked out. Her motivation and determination to succeed got her to continue the fight, when the umpire was holding fingers in her face (as once they count to 10, it's over), and her coach was prepping her for the final push. She's able to stand up and knock out the other fighter that she's up against...and in the end it was a draw. I really liked the storyline in the music video, as it shows that you might not always necessarily win, but you won't lose, so long as you've got the inner confidence and belief that you can succeed!
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