Music Video Analysis

Blood // Water - grandson

• Song protesting political corruption and corporate greed.
• "What you gon' do when there's blood in the water?" - could be referencing the Flint water crisis - furthermore, it implies the corruption of a basic need for regimes to survive, symbol of resistance.
• at 0:40, the artist appears in a cameo role, and the first 30 seconds is in the form of a classic 40-50's ad, with the 50s aesthetic continued throughout the music video.
• Full narrative approach, with the characters clearly reflecting an upper-class corrupt politician and his family, and exploring the impact of corruption and greed on families.
• "Lamb to the slaughter" - biblical connotations and representation of the innocent suffering at the hands of those utilizing corporate greed.
• "you poisoned me just for / another dollar in your pocket" building on the idea of the rich profiting off the suffering and woes of those beneath them in social hierarchy - notion that the rich and elite stay at the top by repressing those beneath them.

Stigmata - grandson

• Protesting against censorship, corruption and the suppression of the truth, Noticeably uses a lot of traditional Christian imagery, however in a non-religious context.
• Electric chair symbolic - suppressing the truth, with the truth personified as the person sat in it.
• Narrative approach, with montage shots and performance to camera within it, including cameos from the artist.
• "The truth is alive and well / it's underground livin on the WiFi still" element of resistance / rebellion associated with underground.
• "Don't buy all the lies they sell / When the Black Hawk flies head right for the hills" - 'they' is representative of the government and mainstream media, while Black Hawk could be connoting the spiritual value of hawks to many cultures, but also the Black Hawk helicopter used by the US military, adding elements of danger and governmental oppression. 
• "They put a hole in the back of my head called it suicide" - censorship and suppression of the truth.
• "Who's gonna rise when saints pray to sinners?" - the sinners being the oppressive forces, the saints those unaware of the truth.

The Killers - Land of The Free

• No clear narrative structure or performance to camera - instead montage shots of various migrant crossings and border violence. 
• Ridicule America's common epithet of being the 'land of the free'
• Highlight America being a nation built on immigration, emphasised by the accompanying video.
• upside down flag at the end of the video - America is upside down in the bands view, as a result of recent politicians and policies.
• "So how many daughters, tell me, how many sons / Do we have to have to put in the ground / Before we just break down and face it: / We got a problem with guns?" - addressing gun violence in America, just another one of the controversial issues tackled in this music video.

Thoughts & Prayers - grandson

• Music video neither narrative nor performance to camera, but takes form of an infographic charting the locations of school shootings within the US.
•  "Smile for the camera, another politician bought / I swear I heard another shot" - alluding to form of bribery between the NRA and politicians to vote against gun legislation and control in order to obtain funds from the NRA lobbyists.
• "No thoughts / No prayers / can bring back what's no longer there" - parodying the classic line used by many US politicians and public figures in the wake of mass shootings, accusing them of inaction - "the body count is on your hands"
• "bulletproof backpacks, they want to arm the teachers" - alluding to policies introduced in some US states for arming teachers with firearms and making students use transparent bulletproof backpacks.
• "turn off all the lights / nobody make a sound" - referencing lock down procedures in US schools in response to a shooter being on-site.