Narrative Case Study- 'Give Me Love' Ed Sheeran (version 2; UPDATED)

Give Me Love was released in November 2012 where it reached the top 20s in the UK in 2012-2013 on the Official British Charts.

The song is an indie, pop and folk mix with no obvious meaning. The song has reached 411,744,237 views on Youtube and is one of Ed Sheeran's most popular song, even being used in the cult TV show "Vampire Diaries", giving it even more popularity and momentum.

Figure 1

The music video is centred around an unknown female character (played by Isabel Lucas). The video begins in a messy room where the character is presumed dead with an arrow in her neck, blood spilled behind her. The following scenes then depict her as alive again, suggesting that the video may be a hallucination. It uses a circular narrative, beginning and ending with the same shot type and scene.

Figure 3

Figure 3

The character is distressed and scratches her back and pulls out a white feather from her back. The white has connotations of purity, hope and innocence and as it is a feather has angelic and holy connotations. However, the feather is covered in blood, tainting the representation and suggesting that the girl is a cursed angel or a fallen angel. This may be a biblical reference to the fallen angels, suggesting the girl is sinning as she is hallucinating from drugs. Her hallucination is further followed by blurry mid shots of her with her wings spread against the dark and gloomy room. This elicits her confusion and possible hallucination as the colours are blurred, possibly reflecting her mind. In figure 3 the girl is centre frame, The long shot of her against the background with her wings and arms spread out gives her space and freedom. During her hallucination she is able to leave the dull room and wander the city and she is not confined to one room. The shot has been edited to look hazy as if it is a hallucination and therefore not real.

Figure 4

The protagonist is hiding behind a wall,
showing how she is hidden to others

The hallucination may also be an amplification for her normal life. Throughout the video she is shooting arrows (another reference to Cupid) and causing the one hit to fall in love with the other. The protagonist however is not seen nor acknowledged for what she did. This shows how the girl is never noticed and is invisible to other people and is alone. This is further shown by the the title of the song, "Give Me Love". The title suggests that the girl just wants love however instead she is the one giving it to others whilst receiving no love herself, which is why she seems solemn and melancholic throughout the video.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Entire video is a hallucination from drugs as in the beginning and end there is an ambulance suggesting the main character has overdosed on drugs and the arrow mimics the arrows she uses. It’s a hallucination as she is giving out love in the form of cupid’s arrows, an inter-textual reference to cupid. The hallucination be an amplification of her normal life by amplifying how she feels that all she does is help others without being noticed. In the visible she is invisible to other characters, unseen nor noticed, showing how she is there to help them with no reward. In many shots she is shown to be alone, barely occupying the shot. In figure 4 she is occupying only one third in the frame, reflecting her lack of presence. She is easily missed and this motif is used often in the video. In figure 5 her presence is even less, being barely noticeable except for her tiny silhouette in front of the blue lights. As the story progresses her presence increases. 2 shots after figure 5 there is a closer shot of her, increasing her presence in figure 6. Her presence continues to increase as the music begins a crescendo in a middle 8 section of yelling and shouting. The music becomes forte and intense and the imagery mimics the pace of the song by the quick cuts and close ups of the protagonist. The close ups of her show her in a dazed state, once again eliciting the hallucinogenic state she is in. Within the sequence she continues to cause people to fall in love but she stabs the arrow into their back rather than shoot them and she is still unseen, showing her invisibility to the others and how she is beginning to accept her invisibility. Once the sequence ends there are shots of a team of medics going to the room in the beginning intertwined with shots of the girl's silhouette dancing in front of a light. This may show that she is currently hallucinating the entire video and is moments from death. However, one of the final shots is figure 1. There is a small change in that the arrows disappears in smoke and her eyes open, followed by a blurry shot of a medic from a point of view shot.This may show that the entire video was a hallucination as she began to die however she was saved, possibly making a statement towards drugs and their dangers.

Figure 7

Alternatively, the wings on her back may symbolise angels and show how the girl is dying or dead and is ascending to heaven. The lack of attention from any other characters may reflect how she is invisible as she is dead and about to move on. However, in the end she is saved and the point of view shot is blurred, possibly showing how she has been sent back to life due to her helping others find love. The song has no real definite meaning so either interpretations may be correct.

Within the video Chomsky's theory can be applied. The idea that "we need stories to be comprehend human existence" can be seen here. The title "Give Me Love" is self-explanatory but Ed Sheeran wants the audience to really understand there story so the music video can show that. As a society we disregard overdose however this music video thrusts the topic into the spotlight in order for us to try and comprehend the existence of drugs and their effects.

Also, Straus' theory can also be applied. His idea that "the heart of the story is significant-not the story conveyed" is evident.The idea of overdose and ignorance towards teenagers is the meaning as opposed to an angel causing others to fall in love. The actual actions are no important but rather the small shots that seem insignificant. In figure 5 the main character is barely visible and this is a major part of the "heart" of the story as it shows how the main character is ignored by others.