Analysis of The Script - 'Breakeven'

The music video "Breakeven" by the Script was released on the 12^th December 2008 and was directed by the film director ‘Aggressive’.  The song includes references to the genre of soft rock followed by elements of folk rock and acoustic music as the main singer Danny O'Donoghue's describes his feelings and emotions towards his break-up between him and his girlfriend.

The music video includes conventions of both performance and narrative based music videos to present the protagonist very differently. The narrative elements of the video portray him to be a ‘normal’ person with real feelings as he is just a man in love who misses his girlfriend, providing audiences with para-social intimacy. The performance based sequences, however show the singer with his band in front of crowds of people presenting him as a star. This adds to his ‘meta-narrative’ by making him appealing to audiences through showing this down to earth side.  

The lyrics of the song match the visuals of the music video as the song includes themes of heartbreak. In the first verse when the main protagonist is shown to sing the lyrics “Cos I got time while she got freedom” a low angle shot of his ex-girlfriend in a field is used to connote her sense of freedom as she is no longer in a loving relationship with him no more.  The lyrics “They say bad things happen for a reason” are emphasised in the visuals of the music video as the audience see his lover walking out of the front door with her bags packed illustrating this scene to be a ‘bad thing’.  The lyrics of the song are further emphasised as the main actor sings “While I’m wide awake, she’s no trouble sleeping” conveying him to be sitting on the edge of the bed with his hand on his head which suggests he is unable to sleep due to the breakup between him and his girlfriend.

Throughout the music video, flashbacks are used to show the difference between the past and present. This is displayed through the different variations of colour as the flashbacks are shown to be much more colourful and slightly brighter than the real-time shots to give the audience the impression that they are looking back in time from O’Donoghue’s memory. The constant change of colour conveys him to be much happier when he is with his girlfriend and sad and miserable when he is alone. Visual techniques are used to assist this, for example the room is lit by a flickering light which gives the impression of flames as if the artist is telling a story and reminiscing from the past. The rule of thirds is also used in the black and white flashbacks which make the shot feel like a photograph, reinforcing the idea that the audience are looking back in time from the singer’s memory.  Furthermore, a black and white shot of the lead singer sitting alone in a room looking at a colour video of his love divides the two aspects of the video to avoid any confusion of the audience.

The female character is described to adhere to the Madonna vs Whore complex which was first identified by Sigmund Freud as she is seen by the male as something he desires. This is reinforced by the apparent use of close-up shots of the lead singer and his girlfriend in bed together implying the male singer misses this kind of connection and intimacy between them. A close-up shot of the female figures lips is also used which again includes references to Freud’s theory.

The ideological discourse of the video shows that it is ok for a man to show his emotions by expressing his loss for the one that he loves. The main singer is shown frustrated by the absence of his love as he is shown to be walking along the seafront singing this as if he cannot hold this in any more. The lyrics “I’m falling to pieces” and “what am I supposed to do” reinforces the confusion and sadness he feels. This side of emotion conveys the 'new man' ideology found in contemporary society, reinforcing a hetro-normative discourse.