Oasis-Dont look back in anger

Screen grab showing how the edge of the shot has been blurred
in Dont Look Back in Anger

This is the video for the 1996 Oasis song, Don’t Look Back in Anger, form the album (What‘s the story) morning glory? This video was directed by Nigel Dick, who has also worked on the Guns and Roses videos Sweet Child of Mine, Paradise City and Welcome to the Jungle. He has also worked with the band on their videos for other singles including, Rock and Roll Star, Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova. Using the same director for some of their videos means that there are some similarities in the bands music videos. This is particularly true for the videos to Wonderwall and Don’t look back in anger as they both create the feel that they have been shot on old film as the edge of the shots are blurred. Another similarity between the two videos include that both opening shots are mid-long shots of lone objects, for example in Don’t look back in anger it is a chair and in Wonderwall (below rigt) it is a box.







In this video there is some relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with references to beds and summer there is shots of the band laying on beds and of Liam Gallagher surrounded by bright yellow flowers, clearly implying summer. These shots do not necessarily help reinforce the lyrics to the song, nor do they amplify or contradict them but they do however help illustrate what the lyrics are saying. There is also a relationship between the music and the lyrics as there is reoccurring images of guitars and drums, reminding us that this is a rock band, who play their own music. As with most rock bands they are performing in their video, something you would expect of this genre of music. This is shown in there other videos including ones for Wonderwall.

Genre iconography in Wonderwall video.



Genre iconography in Dont Look Back in Anger.

 

In this video there is a reference to voyeurism, although not in the way that we would normally expect to see it in a music video. Instead of us there being a sense that some one is being watched in a sexual way, how Goodwin implies it is normally used in music videos, in this video it is a man who is being watched and instead of the technique being used to make the video seem sexy, it is being used to show that the band is being watched because they are doing something wrong. With the lead singer, Noel Gallagher, looking back at the camera it complies with the image of them having an attitude, something you would expect from a rock band. It also suggests that the band are cocky, an attitude that we expect from them.

Throughout this video there is a lot of use of iconography. In the 1990s the band were synonymous with the Brit Pop scene and this is shown throughout this video. The iconography is mainly centred around British icons, something you would expect from this genre of music. There is a small union jack at the start of the video, a black taxi and a stately home, all things that recognisably British. The fact that Noel Gallagher, lead singer, is wearing a pair of round coloured glasses like John Lennon, a member of The Beatles, another band who were part of an earlier British music movement, the British Invasion in the 1960s, shows another reference to British culture and the bands own admiration for Lennon. The lyrics also mention John Lennon as they say “I’m gonna start a revolution from my bed”, referencing John Lennon’s bed protest in 1969.

John Lennon wearing the round glasses.

'John Lennon glasses' worn in Wonderwall.

'Bed In' refered to in song

Throughout the video for ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ there is a number of close ups of the singer, Noel Gallagher, and his brother Liam, who is the bands front man. There are both shots of them on their own and together, playing on the relationship of the brothers, something that is sometimes focused on in the press. The reason that they have done this is possibly because, as Goodwin tells us, there is often a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close ups.