Analysis of 2U

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the song before I attempt to make my own video for it, I decided to analyse the artist, musicality, camera work, editing, lyrics etc.

Analysis of 2U – David Guetta ft. Justin Bieber

As the one who wrote the lyrics for this song, it is important to consider Justin Bieber’s musical as well as personal background as these factors may have influenced the meaning he gave to the lyrics, or way he wanted audiences to interpret them. His music generally falls into the pop genre, but over the past couple of years he has moved into the contemporary R+B genre through collaborations with DJ’s (such as David Guetta for 2U). This expansion into the newer, trendier genres could represent a change in Bieber’s ideology. Therefore, as the audience we must look for lyrical references to Bieber’s ideas and beliefs. For example, the line “Let's take both of our souls, and intertwine” in 2U may be referencing the strong belief Bieber holds in religion and Jesus; something he has been very open about on social media and during various interviews.

In terms of lyrics, the basic meaning is the male telling a girl how much he means to her and how much he loves her. But some lyrics have a deeper meaning, or other connotations that we must consider to fully understand Bieber’s intentions. For example, in the first verse the line “With every breath that I take, I want you to share that air with me” shows the closeness that he wants between them emotionally and physically; this has a sexual connotation, whilst many of the other lyrics are relationship focused. Such as “There's no promise that I won't keep. I'll climb a mountain, there's none too steep” This shows his dedication to her and how much he cares for her, which is also represented throughout the video in that he always chases after her despite the setting or universe they are put into and her running away from him.

Another interesting line which appears in the chorus is “When it comes to you, there’s no crime”. It’s as if the sentence has been cut short, so we can only guess what Bieber meant. Does he mean that there is no crime he wouldn’t commit for her? Or that they are doing no wrong by being together? However, this is a strange thing to say as the audience had no reason to think there is a crime/anything against them. Therefore, we have to consider the backgrounds of the characters in the video (ethnicity, religion, class etc) and the way they interact with one another – mostly arguments – to work out why they may or may not be a good pair.

Overall though, the lyrics as well as what happens in the video does illustrate the message of unconditional love and affection that the directors (the Brewer duo; Alex and Benjamin Brewer) wanted to portray. They told Billboard in an interview that “The song perfectly captures the emotional phenomenon of loving someone to the point where there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for them. We thought it would be great to embrace this idea, being as it’s one of our most beloved cultural clichés, and repeat it over and over again to try to see if through repetition a new perspective, a new deconstruction, could happen.”

The music is generally very upbeat (especially on the chorus) but it is interesting because it seems to be a combination of two sounds. Justin Bieber's voice can be described as smooth and steady, which when combined with the wide-ranging effects of the beat and instrumentals replicates an early 2010's techno beat. Because the music continues to build in volume and intensity throughout, it’s as if the music is never quite ready to settle down which gives the song an energy reminiscent of certain shots throughout the video where a lot is going on at once.

Having said that, 2U does fall into the dance genre of videos, as well as being narrative, where would expect to see lively atmospheres with lots of things going on simultaneously as well as fast editing/cuts. The official 2U video (rather than the Victoria’s secret models lip sync version that a lot of people assume is the official video) definitely follows this in that the screen is sometimes split to show various scenarios at once, with cuts at different moments. Also there is around 85 cuts in this video, which is a lot when you consider the length of the video as it isn’t actually that long.

The video starts with a close up shot of the guy and the girl’s faces; this is a common technique in music videos as it allows the audience to thoroughly interpret their emotions. They can also do this through looking at body language, which the camera concentrates on as it follows them as they walk, by maintaining the closeness to the characters. And still every time that the scene is redone where she runs away from him, the camera remains at a similar distance but moves to be at a slightly different angle to show another position/ perspective on it. It is rare that we see a long shot, apart from when it is tracking or panning to show the man running towards the girl.

With so much going on in this video at once, audiences are naturally compelled to watch it a second or third time in order to see anything they missed. This was definitely a main aim of the directors, who started the video with what seems to be a standard argument between a couple but develops into a much more complicated love story through different dimensions and decades. Some of these include a video game style cartoon, a world filled with zombies, a 1950s diner, a jungle, as well as one where the restaurant is flooded. This supports my earlier conclusion of the lyrics that the message is that no matter the setting they are in, the obstacles it presents them or how many times she rejects him, they always end up together.

There is definitely a couple of intertextual references in this video. For example, I feel as though the cut at 2.11 resembles the idea of ‘the upside down’ from ‘Stranger Things’, where everything has floated to the ceiling. This effect was also created in David Guetta’s video with Sia, ‘Titanium’, despite that video being released before Stranger Things was created.

Lastly, it is important to consider how the label intended Justin Bieber to look through releasing this song/video. He comes across as caring and loving, which could be to build his fan base of young girls who adore him and his music. However, it is no secret that Justin has had some scandals during his time, so this may have actually been to counter the negativity surrounding him as an artist. In the genre he works in, having a strong fan base and being popular in the music industry is the key to success, so this song was most likely made to contribute to that. And it did so successfully; shoen by the fact that it reached the top 5 on the official charts in both the US and the UK, as well as Australia where it was number 1.