Andrew Goodwin Theory

Andrew Goodwin has a theory that states that in the vast majority of cases, a music video will be reflected by the lyrics of the song or vice versa. A good example of this is 'Stan' by Eminem, arguably one of his best and most famous songs ever.  The song tells the story of a person named Stanley "Stan" Mitchell who claims to be the biggest fan of Eminem. Stan writes a plethora of letters to Eminem; with each verse he becomes gradually more obsessed with him, and when there is no reply he becomes progressively angrier. He finally creates a voice recording of himself driving his car into a lake, with his pregnant girlfriend in the trunk, as shown in the lyrics:

"So this is my cassette I'm sending you, I hope you hear it. I'm in the car right now, doing 90 on the freeway. Hey Slim, I drank a fifth of vodka, you dare me to drive? See Slim... (Stan's girlfriend screams from the trunk) Shut up, b*ch! I'm trying to talk! Hey Slim, that's my girlfriend screaming in the trunk. But I didn't slit her throat, I just tied her up. See, I ain't like you, 'cause if she suffocates, she'll suffer more, then she'll die too. Well, gotta go, I'm almost at the bridge now... Oh, shit! I forgot! How am I supposed to send this sh*t out?! (car tires squeal, followed by the sounds of the car crashing through the bridge's railing and falling into the river below)"

The first three verses are delivered by Eminem as Stan while the fourth verse is Eminem as himself attempting to write to Stan and reason with the troubled young man, only to realize that he had already heard about Stan's death on the news. Eminem is rapping as Stan as he is writing the letters, as shown in sync with the video.

Another example of this theory is the song 'Lamborghini' by KSI. The lyrics in this song are heavily based around JJ aka KSI rapping extensively about owning a Lamborghini Aventador. The music video, like the lyrics suggest is him driving around and ultimately showing off his car.

Another element to Goodwin's theory is that the music video in question will usually portray conventions of that genre. A very good example of this is the video for Kendrick Lamar's 'mA.A.d city'. Growing up in Compton surrounded by gang culture, even witnessing the murder of his own cousin at the age of 7, Kendrick Lamar's music is heavily based and influenced by his early life in Compton, despite him never getting in trouble and being one of the most humble and down to earth rappers there are. The video for this song is an accurate representation of the gang culture which occurs not just in Compton, but all around the USA. This obviously backs Goodwin's theory, as drugs and guns are stereotypes and conventions associated with rap music.

Another example of this part of Goodwin's theory is 'California Gurls' by Katy Perry. This is a pop music video, which shows general conventions of a pop music video; a very catchy, upbeat track, and an artist found acting in a very sexual and seductive manor. This is as much of a marketing strategy as it is all about the music. Because Katy Perry is a very attractive woman, if she is to act very seductive, that alone is enough to attract a very large audience to not only the song, but perhaps anything else Katy Perry happens to be endorsing. This is the case with most pop videos which have a female lead/main character.