Adam Jones - Music Video Analysis: Goodwin’s Theory

Music Genre: Dance
Music Video: I Left my Heart in Tokyo.
I feel the video of ‘I left my heart in Tokyo’ is very effective in demonstrating the genre’s characteristics. The reason for this is that it includes a lot of shots showing people dancing, along with shots of the club scene in Tokyo. This follows the characteristics of a dance video due to the fact that people interested in dance music are usually attracted and connected to the club scene. The video also follows the characteristics of a dance video by featuring the artist and presenting them as two attractive women, this follows the characteristics of a dance video because the club scene is also related to sex via attracted women (sex-appeal).
The video of ‘I Left my Heart in Tokyo’ is very successful in relating the lyrics of the song to the visuals in the video. The reason for this is that the lyrics are related to the city of Tokyo and throughout the video there are several to show the speed of Tokyo, Tokyo’s landmarks and also the nightlife associated with Tokyo.
The video also follows the third point in Goodwin’s Theory by relating the music of the song with the visuals in the video. One way in which the music relates to the visuals is through speed/tempo of the beat and visuals. For example when the beat is slower the visuals mainly consist of the artists singing and dancing, whereas when the tempo of the beat increases, the speed of editing in the visuals increases to match and shows clips of the high speed and advanced technological city.


The video also follows Goodwin’s theory by showing close-ups of the artists dancing and performing. The reason for this is that record labels want the artists to be recognised by the song’s target audience. By using the method of showing close-ups of the artists may also result in certain factors recurring in all of the music video by this artist e.g. dance moves and other styles shown from the artists.
This close up is essential in order for the artist to gain recognition among their target audience.
This music video also has frequent references to the female body. For example in this video the female is used as a sex appeal to try and attract males. The reason for this is that the target audience of the video is 16-24 year olds, and the song itself would appeal to more females than males so the video is trying to attract more males to listen to the song whilst watching the video.
Overall I feel as though the video is very successful at attracting its target audience of 16-24 year olds. The reason for this is that there are a lot of references of the club scene and a high speed city. This would appeal to older teens and young adults due to the fact that they are related to “living life in the fast lane”, and would therefore be attracted to a high speed and technologically advanced city such as Tokyo.