Analysis of Use Somebody by the Kings of Leon

The video is clearly placed in the rock genre, with the shots of life on tour, the 'jet-set' lifestyle, guitar playing silhouetted against harsh stage lighting and huge crowds at stadium concerts. The use of muted colours and sepia tone is also recognisable as a generic convention of rock, as is the image of the band as being long haired, bearded and tattooed.

The song is a Narrative and tells the story of how the hustle and bustle of life on the road can be lonely. tracking shots of traffic, hand-held backstage footage, tracking aerial shots of cities, juxtaposed with close-ups of the singer singing to the camera provide the binary opposites of commotion vs stillness/loneliness. he close-up black and white shots signify the singer's yearning for a special someone.

The opening shot is a wide shot of a dark hotel room overlooking the city, with the band members sprawled over the chairs which sets the tone and gives the audience an understanding of the narrative. Then we see a montage of shots that gives the impression of travel and cities (the aerial tracking top-shots, the plane, the W/S of the motorway, combined with shots of band members getting out of tour buses). Slow cross-dissolves from the lead singer's close-up to sped-up shots of headlights on  motorway place this lonely character inside the more fast-paced action too. The fast-paced editing keeps the audience engaged.

The Kings of Leon had been floating on the background of the music scene in the US since 2003, with a growing number of fans in the UK. But 2008 was the year they became global. Signed to Sony Music, the band has won a Grammy Award, and been nominated for NME Awards, Q Awards, MTV Awards and several others. They headline music festivals globally, and their concerts are instant sell-outs. They have launched a fashion range, and have appeared on the cover of Q Magazine, NME and Esquire. As a commodity, the band is hugely valuable to Sony because of the huge following it has.

Kings of leon Use somebody Lyrics

(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
I've been roaming around,
I was looking down at all I see
painted faces,
fill the places I can't reach
You know that I could use somebody...
you know that I could use somebody...
Someone like you
and all you know
and how you speak
countless lovers
undercover of the streets
You know that I could use somebody...
you know that I could use somebody...
Someone like you
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh [wha-ah-ah]
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh [wha-ah-ah]
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
Off in the night,
while you live it up,
I'm off to sleep
waging wars to shape
the poet and the beat
I hope it's going to make you notice...
I hope it's going to make you notice...
Someone like me...
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh) Someone like me...
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh) someone like me... somebody...
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh) [wha-ah-ah]
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
(I'm ready now, I'm ready now
I'm ready now, I'm ready now
I'm ready now, I'm ready now
I'm ready now)
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh) Someone like you... somebody
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh) Someone like you... somebody
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh) Someone like you... somebody
(Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
I've been running around, I was looking down at all I see...