I am a huge Stevie Ray fan and he is a massive influence on the music I play outside of school. Couldn't Stand the Weather was released in '84 and is Stevie's best work since his rehabilitation. The video for the title song was frequently shown on MTV, clearly because it's such a cool video.
Chroma keying features heavily in the video, supplying the background weather imagery for SRV and Double Trouble. In the 80's green or blue screens were popular, especially with presenting the weather (perhaps a small link). The use of this obviously allows for the appearance of stormy conditions without having to submit yourself to an actual storm. However, SRV decided that he would use real weather conditions anyway. They must have had a blast filming, trying to keep the cameras and such from getting soaked. This must also be one of the only music video's around where the band get covered in rain and play against a gale, which shows a clear relationship between the lyrics and visuals. So cool.
The video is iconic amongst blues lovers, mainly because SRV is held as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. For me, he is the greatest of all time. Interestingly Stevie puts aside his preferred Fender Strat and picks up a Hamilton, probably so that is doesn't get wet. I like the close up shot towards the beginning of the video in a kind of dated way, where Stevie grabs the neck and as he pulls it upwards in comes a shot of the headstock. It seems quite a clever shot as it seems to be one piece of footage, but obviously it isn't.
The video features a lot of band performance as well as a sequence of conflict or confrontational scenes with two people standing in front of their flag. SRV and Double Trouble's performance fits Andrew Goodwins genre theory of the heavy rock/metal genre. Blues features a similar band setup as these genres, in this case a trio. There is heavy instrument focus, such as the close ups of the drum kit, bass and guitar towards the beginning.
The sub-narrative of the conflicts taking place infront of difference flags is perhaps aiming to make a political statement of some kind. I think this is free from interpretation. It's interesting, however, that similar to Bowie's 'Just Dance' (which also features SRV for the guitar solo :P), this seems to perhaps have weak relations to the song itself.
The video also features accurate lip syncing, although perhaps sometimes a little behind. Lip syncing is present in nearly every music video. The shots are also usually cut in time to the music. This makes the video easy to watch because it flows and rolls off the music. It also helps the music to be the audience's focus.
SRV is wearing clothing that is very iconic of himself. He is using his favourite guitar strap, and wearing baggy 'Hendrix' style clothing. He was often seen in his hat, and this is used well in the shot where the rain is dripping onto the peak. This clothing style is reoccurring in all his videos and live performances, and so is perhaps a motif or icon.
Overall, I have a very biased view of this music video. Being a huge SRV fan I automatically love the video. That aside, I think it's a pretty cool video anyway. Who else would play in the rain?
Good work Mark. I like teh way you have tried to talk about a range of ideas as wella s give your own opinions.
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