Bitter Sweet Symphony
The Verve
The Verve formed in 1990 in Wigan and have split up and reunited multiple times since then, the latest being their split in 2009 after which it was said by the lead singer, Richard Ashcroft, tht the band is "over for good," thus ruling out any other albums from them. In their duration, The Verve made 4 albums: Storm In Heaven (1993), A Northern Soul (1995), Urban Hymns (1997) and Forth (2008). Urban Hymns would turn out to be the band's greatest success, as it featured Bitter Sweet Symphony which has come to be the band's most well-known songs, most notably being used on ITV's coverage of England football games internationally.
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The song itself isn't so much indie rock as alternative rock, however the video does include some indie qualities. The song is backed by an orchestral version of The Rolling Stones' The Last Time, and the lyrics to the song are rather nihilistic and pessimistic in nature, saying things like "You're a slave to money then you die" and "I need to hear some sounds that recognise the pain in me, yeah." The sound apart from the vocals is much more upbeat, which is congruent to the genre as it reflects a far happier mood that is often present in indie pop/rock.
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The music video is similar to other indie pop/rock music videos as it is low-budget. It follows the lead singer of the band as he walks down the street, oblivious to the activity going on around him, therefore walking straight into (and sometimes pushing over) other people on the street; this makes it conceptual as it doesn't follow a narrative, and despite the lead singer lip-syncing along to the lyrics, it isn't a performance video as none of the other band members are in the video.
The position of the camera and lead singer throughout the majority of the video
The lead singer bumping into someone whilst walking
The camera is shaky and handheld throughout the video, which expresses the indie nature of the band, as it implies low production value, as it is amateurly shot. This amateur vibe is further expressed through the mise en scene, as the lead singer is in casual clothing walking down a British street, making them seem more relateable and normal, as they're not put in any extraordinary setting or costume to difference themselves from the people around them. However, he is in centre shots throughout most of the video, making him seem to be more important than those around him. The only times in the video when he isn't centre-shot is when it changes to a POV shot, which is often done to show people coming towards him.
A POV shot from the persepective of the lead singer
Even when the rest of the band members arrive, the lead singer is still kept in the centre
The video follows one of Dyer's paradoxes, which states that the star is "both ordinary and extraodinary," which this video presents by having the lead singer (and the rest of the band) in casual costume, similarly to the other people in the video, however more focus is put on them, as they often occupy the majority of the screen, making them seem better than the people around them. As for audience gratification, this video and song presents the personal identity gratification, as it represents the feeling of "getting lost" in music, and that people often become unaware of what's around them because of that, much like the lead singer does.