
Music is a universal language. Whether you can understand the lyrics or not, we can all interpret the message of a song similarly by the sound of the beat and the way the voice speaks. Does the speaker sound happy? Sad? Angry? Is the beat fast? Slow? Does it change? The same concept works with a song’s music video, most music videos go right along with the message of its song and watching the video alone without music we can come pretty close to determining what the song might be about by its visual context. In this paper I will be doing a close reading of a music video and explain how the video helps the viewer interpret the meaning and details of a song. By close reading the visual context in, Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes, the song is actually about Shawn singing about himself wanting to be with a girl who is in an abusive relationship and thinks he would be a better partner for her. This is important because the song itself does not tell the listener that the girl is in an abusive relationship. This close reading of a visual text can be applied to almost anything such as artwork, music videos, etc. 

Colors used in music videos play an important role in playing the emotions of the viewer. A song about a guy wanting to date a girl is usually a happy uplifting song, where he talks about how beautiful and perfect she is and he sings to share his feelings with the world. That is not really the same case with this song, which we can see by watching the music video. By looking at the dark color scheme used throughout this music video, the overall message is not very happy or uplifting. The video is set during the dark hours of the night which gives a black sky as the background in the outdoor scenes and in the indoor scenes he wears a brown colored shirt while the contrast focuses on the dark colors rather than the lights. Dark colors are not generally used for happy music videos, but dark colors and night-time scenes like in this one, tend to bring the viewer more serious and emotional feelings towards the video. Without these dark visual elements of the music video the listener would probably not have the same emotional feelings towards the song. The song itself sounds upbeat and has a reoccurring catchy chorus.  

Also, without watching the music video, it is not apparent that the girl he is singing about is in a relationship with a violent, stereotypical “bad boy”. In the song Shawn only sings about how he can treat her better and he doesn’t mention any of the physical abuse. In the beginning scene of the music video the guy she is dating is this attractive guy with tattoos wearing and necklace and an almost tight black short-sleeve shirt that exposes his arm muscles. When his shirt is off it hangs over his shoulder and the frame focuses on the arm tattoo. They are in a car arguing and he slams his arms down on the steering wheel in a very angry manner. He then proceeds to beating up another guy against a fence, him being higher than the other guy who he is beating down on shows that he is the alpha, or more desirable person, to anyone who is watching the fight. These features automatically show the viewer that he is the stereotypical “bad boy” who in today’s society, is viewed more attractive than the sensitive, caring guy who Shawn Mendes is making himself out to be. This scene also sets the message that the girl’s boyfriend is violent because during the argument when he was angry he lashed out by slamming the steering wheel and he solves his problems with fighting. 

Women with red hair are an icon, commonly related to domestic violence which is why they use this girl in the video. Rarely throughout this music video does the nice looking red-headed girl smile which tells the viewer she is unhappy in her current situation and Shawn thinks he can make her happy.  In another scene the girl is riding around in a car with her boyfriend and they seem to be having a good time playing around, laughing and smiling while racing another car. The scene is set at night while it is raining and the boyfriend then begins to drive very recklessly, almost causing them to lose control and get in an accident. The girl gets very upset with him and walks away. In this scene the boyfriend is uncaring and puts his girlfriend’s life in danger which is a form of abuse. No one should put their partner’s safety on the line just to play around and have a little fun. 

Domestic violence and abuse can be presented in many ways. In this scene of the video the boyfriend is not only physically abusive, but emotional as well. The girl goes out to a night club to have fun and probably blow off steam, although she doesn’t look like she is enjoying herself. She looks over and sees her boyfriend is flirting and dancing with another girl in the club. She then confronts them and storms off. Cheating is another form of abuse and mistreatment in a relationship. In the video she seems to have gone and visited Shawn, maybe to have someone to talk to or maybe she goes to him for comfort. Often times women in abusive relationships have another guy friend they can vent to. My interpretation of this part of the music video is that her boyfriend finds out she went and saw Shawn and he then finds Shawn and beats him up. The video shows the same scene it did in the beginning with the boyfriend beating up a guy but the camera does not expose that the other guy is Shawn. 

The music video of a song often adds a ton more context and meaning to a song. Without watching the music video, a listener would not know that the girl Shawn was singing about was in an abusive relationship and that Shawn wanted to save her and love her like she deserved. The video shows a dark color scheme which contrasts with the upbeat music in the song which gives the viewer an entirely different emotional view on the song. There are several scenes where the boyfriend is abusive to the girl by arguing violently, putting her safety in danger and even cheating. Also the last form of abuse is the sheer fact that she is stuck in this relationship with a guy who doesn’t make her happy, she does not seem to be happy for the entirety of the video except for a few temporary smiles. None of these elements that I have discussed in this paper are in the lyrics of Shawn’s song and therefore the music video adds the element of the abusive relationship and deep emotions for the viewer.
