Florence + The Machine- Rabbit Heart Analysis

Although there is a clearer, more obvious interpretation to the meaning of the song, which is a polemical
commentary on the music industry, shown throughout the lyrics: This is a gift, it comes with a price and
You made a deal and now it seems you have to offer up. However, there is other interpretations that can
be made, via the intertextual references. There is clear references to the Pre-Raphaelites, a band of poets,
artists and critics. Often, their work depicted people with red hair, and the costume in the video fits the
dress sense associated with the group. As well as this, Pre-Raphaelites often had heroines in their art,
tying in to the feminist theme in the video. Furthermore, the most obvious reference is near the end of the
video, where we see her lying in what seems to be a white coffin. This resembles the popular PreRaphaelite painting Ophelia. Other intertextual references include Alice in Wonderland, with a lyric
reading: The looking glass so shiny and new. On top of that, there is a reference to the Matrix: Was it
the wrong pill to take. I think that the purpose of these references is to give the song some depth in its
meaning, so the audience can take away different interpretations and feelings from the song.

Goodwins theory, explaining that a music video must have a star image, is shown in this video. Florence
clearly has a unique selling point, combining alternative music with pop music. As she pushed a feminist
agenda, typically redundant in pop music, and has an appearance un-common in pop music, as she is not
sexualized through body language or costume, it means that she does not fit these conventions. Meaning
she has an alternative appeal. However, as the music she plays has elements of pop music within it, it
suggests she can appeal to different demographics. Furthermore, although she is not sexualized, there is
still evidence of voyeurism in the video, as she dances whilst performing, in the gold lighting, which makes
her seem very graceful and elegant.

In the first shot in this video, we see the image of Florence with a veil covering the top half of her face,
with a close up on her mouth. One interpretation of this, is that it is a metaphor for the music industry, or
the pop genre. The close up on her mouth, depicting her tongue moving whilst singing the lyrics, is a
typically sexualized image of a female pop artist, thus the inclusion of this means she conforms to the
genre. This is emphasises with the costume, as she is wearing shiny, bright lipstick. Furthermore, the
veil disguises half of her face, meaning all the audience needs to see is her mouth, and therefore a
presentation of her sexual appeal. From this interpretation, we can gauge that the veil is a metaphor for
the sexism in the music industry, which focuses on sexualizing female artists in order to maximise
profit. However, Florence shows that she opposes this sexism, and does not fit into the pop genre as we
might expect when she lifts the veil, which due to the nature of the metaphor, suggests she is free of the
restrictions of the music industry on women. This interpretation can be further backed up through the
change in lighting in the shot. When she has the veil over her face, there is low key lighting, suggesting
that the sexism forced onto her via the veil is sinister on bad. But, when she distances herself from the
expectations of the genre, through lifting the veil, the lighting becomes very bright. Also, as the light is
gold, is creates a dream-like feel the music video. We can see Goodwins theory present in this video,
where we can see a clear amplification of lyrics through the visuals. In this opening shot, we hear the
lyrics: The looking glass so shiny and new. How quickly the glamour fades. These lyrics suggest her
scepticism in the pop genre and the music industry, as she suggests the glamour associated with the
music artists, is false and disperses over time. This amplifies her act of rebellion in the visuals, through
lifting the veil.

In the chorus, in association with Goodwins theory, we see a clear correlation between the music and the
visuals. As the chorus is the loudest and most powerful section of the song, this needs to be resembled in
the visuals. This is done by a drastically increased rate of edit, with shots often lasting less than a second.
The feeling of chaos created by the increased volume and power in the chorus, resonates and is connected
with increased pace of editing.