top of page
Writer's pictureNick Saward

The Only Exception - Paramore


The initial shot of the music video starts off with lead singer Hayley Williams laying on a couch with her love interest, telling the audience that she is one of the main characters in this video. This is a convention of a mainstream music video, which can indicate that this song is to reach a wider audience rather than those of Paramore’s genre of rock.





The first scene change we get to see is of is when Williams goes through a door to greet what seems as a father figure. During this scene, the character looks at a picture and hides it in her back pocket to which we later discover is an old picture of a couple, which could be Williams’ parents. The way in which her character places the picture in her back pocket could propose the idea of how the relationship was left in the past as well as how she does not want to follow in her parents’ footsteps with her love interest. This could reflect a chapter in Hayley Williams’ life, as she once said “ever since the first story in Kerrang!, everyone has known about my family issues and domestic whatever”.



A scene that is replayed multiple times is the scene where Hayley Williams is laying on a pile of love letters whilst lip syncing to the camera. As the camera pans out, we get a full body shot of her laying down. This could signify that she finds comfort in this person and their love letters as she is using it as a bed, as well as she wants to protect this relationship.



The next scene that Williams walks into is a fancy dinner, which many of men lining up for her. In addition to this, there is a blue background as well as a blue light cascading onto the different men. This suggests how there are plenty of other fish in the sea, but because she says no to each man indicates how her main love interest in the video is the one for her.



In this scene, the audience can see how the main character is watching and observing a wedding. These scenes we see can imply what could happen if she breaks up with her boyfriend and the bride could’ve been her. She immediately leaves the chapel and we go backwards to each scene, however, as she walks through the dinner scene we see a couple sitting down in conversation, which could remind her of him.





Finally, Williams walks back to the couch where she started, which could indicate to the audience that, in fact, it would be a regretful decision if she were to end things between them.

6 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page