Motion Graphics in Lyric Videos
Remember music videos? There was a time when a song was only as popular as the video that accompanied it onto a select few cable channels. Music videos still exist of course, but the landscape has changed tremendously. One of those changes that has caught my attention lately has been the emergence of lyric videos.
If you’re unfamiliar, lyric videos are videos, most often made by fans, which simply have text on screen accompanying the lead vocal of the song. Envision a somewhat more updated version of a “follow the bouncing ball sing-along” from your childhood. These videos are usually pretty unsophisticated, but they do bring the song to life in a way that more traditional music videos often don’t.
Lately, I’ve seen more and more bands releasing lyric videos as official releases from their record labels. And the more that happens, the more sophisticated and polished those videos have become. Which brings me to this most recent example that caught my eye from Drive-by Truckers’ latest single.
Despite their regrettable name, Drive-by Truckers are my pick for the best American rock band over the last couple decades. They have a rabid fanbase, but they’ve never really been a very video heavy band, which made an official release of a lyric video stand out to me. But what really struck me is how this video actually showcased the lyrics.
Rather than just animating text onto the screen in a more expected way, the director, Jason Shevchuk, leaned into the protest theme of the song and animated the lyrics onto placards, signs, and banners found on photographs from recent gun-control demonstrations.
It’s a simple concept that is well executed and the end result is a very interesting and effective way to experience the song.
Check out the video here, and be sure to let us know if you have any favorite examples of lyric videos.
Also, I suppose it should be said that this song has a very clear political viewpoint, and language some might find offensive, but that’s not really the point of this post.