Analysis of Florence and the Machine Video for ‘Rabbit Heart’‘Rabbit Heart’ was the third single from Florence and the machine’s debut album ‘Lungs’ and marked a very

crucial point in her career because, while previously, there had been hype surrounding her and she had won the ‘critics choice’ Brit award in February, arguably, ‘rabbit Heart is the song which “made” her. And with this single, it was the first time she was being recognised nationally on a mainstream level. Therefore, this video was very important for Florence completely concreting the image that she wanted to project to her audience and the definitive image she would put across in videos and live performances in the future.

Before this, Florence’s image was seemingly undecided, for example in her debut single, it’s a very low budget affair and she is wearing a very quirky outfit of a floral top, a skirt and some unusual tights, and while it is unusual in terms of fashion, it doesn’t make her stand out as a performer. In the second single for ‘Dog Days’, she is wearing a tuxedo, which is far more theatrical (matching the theme of the video) but it’s completely different from ‘Kiss with a Fist’ because she’s had a complete shift and is going for the unexpected, androgynous look. In ‘rabbit Heart’. She is back to the girly floral style, but she has used elements of the video for ‘Dog Days’ because the costume she wears in her third video is very girly, but also far more theatrical and it makes her extremely recognisable as a performer.

Another key development to note between these three videos is her changing hair colour, through the course of them, her hair has become progressively brighter red. This is representative of the way she has developed as an artist, her songs have become much bigger musically, and so her hair is a way that she can show people that she is a performer and that she’s not ‘average’ and is always able to shock. There is also many close ups of the harp shown in this video, this is referencing how the harp is very significant to all of her songs and her live shows always have a really big deal made of the harpist, so these shots are accessible to fans of her music and increases the pleasure they get out of the video.

This video is not unlike ‘Dog Days’ in that, it is set in the woodland and involves a lot of strangely dressed extras. However, it’s clear to see that this video has a much bigger budget and this video has much more of a story. However, the story doesn’t fully come across until the end of the video where the twist hits you and the whole music video unravels and starts to make sense. The story is of the main character (Florence) being ritually sacrificed in a beautiful, very artistic setting. This has a lot of relevance to the lyrics in the song where she says “before I make the final sacrifice”. It only becomes clear to the viewers what is happening right at the end though and so it may not be clear how relevant the video is to the song’s lyrics until you’ve watched it a few more times.

The video has a very bohemian feel to it and this is a definite reflection on the kinds of people who like Florence and the Machine. There is also a reference to drugs in the lyric “was that the wrong pill to take?” and this is amplified by the video’s trippy style where it looks like a dream sequence. Many of the edits use a cross dissolve transition so the shots appear over the top of each other. This gives the impression that what is happening isn’t real and so adds to the feeling of a dream sequence or possibly a ‘trip’.

There is other literal representations of the lyrics, where in the obscure dance routines the other character in the video are performing behind Florence, they lift their arms as she sings ‘Raise it up’. And while there are a lot of other people in the video, there is never any doubt that Florence is the main focus: She has the brightest hair, and is wearing a headdress, she is always in the centre of all shots and there are many close ups of her singing the song entirely alone. This tells the audience that even though technically, she is in a band, she is the star and the other people in the band are completely nameless and faceless and Florence is the only member of the band who needs to be considered when listening to the music or watching the video.

The final part of the video comes as a complete shock to the viewers because, all the people in the video are wearing white and it is a truly beautiful setting, with all the characters in dappled sunlight. When the characters start to make the coffin, the audience starts to question what they are actually seeing because it’s very shocking. However, once that plot twist unfolds, the whole video starts to make sense with the feast and when you watch it again and listen to the lyrics, it makes even more sense. The song itself is very ambiguous, but this video gives it a

definitive meaning, even though, the way Florence writes her songs is always extremely metaphorical and melodramatic, so this video is probably a much exaggerated metaphor for the song.

The whole video is very surprising, with the juxtaposition of the idyllic setting and the death of the main character and it suggests a metaphorical “dark edge” for Florence’s entire musical career and character. The video shocks viewers, possibly in the same way her music does when you hear the album for the first time.