Similar text analysis - Justin Timberlake - Cry me a river

We are gifted with an aesthetically pleasing opening shot of panning bottom to top of the main setting being outside a gigantean luxurious house. This is then linked to some of the contents of this house and in and around the house whilst specifically highlighting a Mercedes-Benz outside. The rain bouncing off the scenery leads to a subtle distracting from some handheld shot from inside the car showing the owners of the house leave. Then showing the owners leave in their own car via the wing mirror of the Merc. It is clear to see the occupants of the Merc were waiting for the owners to leave, thus the story begins to unfold as well as the song. With the window of the car coming down you can see Justin Timberlake is the one who was waiting for his chance to trespass on the house (with his producer Timberland in the drivers seat) and a female sitting in the back.

Within the first chorus Justin picks up a stone and hurls it at the house breaking a window in the process whilst the song’s lyrics are ‘you told me you loved me, why did you leave me all alone’. It is clear to see now that the occupant of the house used to be Justin’s lover or girlfriend and has left him and this is the correct conclusion as she was seen with another man in one of the early shots. The lyrics directly link to a sense of hurt and pain within a relationship most likely involving Justin himself. There are a lot of close-ups with Justin’s face as he sings the early chorus showing the pain he is feeling. After he is finished with the start of the chorus he recites the words ‘now its your turn to cry’ and proceeding to step inside the house to unleash what he has in plan for the unsuspecting owner of the house. Justin continues to walk around the house and sings the lyrics ‘it wasn't like you only talked to him and you know it’ giving us an insight into his presumable broken relationship. Again with the lyrics ‘All of these things people told me, keep messing with my head’ he further illustrates how this relationship affects/affected him. Within the same verse the lyrics say ‘you should've picked honesty, then you may not have blown it’ and this gives the audience the impression that Justin although is breaking the law by trespassing he is the protagonist.

Upon the arrival of the second chorus a shot of the inside of the car is taking to the forefront of Timberland in the front gesturing to the girl in the back to go. She leaves the car to join Justin we assume at this stage. A very clever technique is used in the next shot where Justin kicks a picture frame off a coffee table and the shot freezes in midair to allow to see that the image is of the owner of the house, and therefore a clear link is established now as Justin showed anger by kicking the image. The woman from the car continues to walk into the house as though trying to find Justin whilst he continues to explore the house as though it’s his own.

The key part of the video is now, Justin takes a seat on the bed in the master bedroom with a video camera and here is where the girl from the car emerges and proceeds to strip her clothes off in front of Justin. The lyrics from the chorus ‘now its your turn to cry’ are before the this scene unravels where Justin is mounted by the girl from the car but keeps his hand steady to film them kissing. Whilst Justin is looking at the camera as though ignoring the girl and trying to clearly establish his message he gives away a smile bearing all of his teeth.

Timberland has his part in the song now ‘the damage is done, so I guess I be leaving’ and the shot breaks to Justin and the girl walking fast as it appears the owner has turned up. But this is where the twist is the girl and Justin split up. The girl appears to escape the house before being caught but Justin stays behind and watches in the shadows the owner of the house hiding behind walls and stairs. He follows her sneakily pacing behind her unnoticed; he appears to smell her hair as though he still wants her but then sneaks off. Justin finds himself in a closet as though he is a ‘peeping tom’, and this is exactly as it seems as she is now in towel getting into the shower. The camera pans closer to the glass of the shower as though it is Justin, he gets so close you see him press his hands against the glass. The owner of the house then becomes alarmed and gets out puts her towel on looking around frantically only to find Justin gone but the video tape with the girl from the car early put on a television. The video ends when he looks at the camera on the television whilst being kissed.

The lyrics link up together now, he wants his revenge on the owner of the house for how she hurt him and this is the way he has gone about it, he wants her to ‘cry him a river.’

Here is the video: