White Collar vid: Bittersweet Symphony
Song: Bittersweet Symphony (The Verve)
Genre: Character Study
Characters: mainly Neal, little bit of Peter (plus diverse people Neal has conned one way or another, over the years.)
Length: 5:19
Summary: Neal struggles in his search for his own identity.
Notes: Made as another gift for swanpride’s stocking at collarcorner. Thanks to jumpfall for the quick last-minute beta!
Additional notes: I’ve read quite a bit of vidding meta these last few weeks and I really like to read people talking about their vids, so I thought I’d try to give you a little abstract of what I wanted to convey with this vid, too:
In "Bittersweet Symphony" I try to explore the question of Neal’s identity. He is constantly taking on new personas, charming and conning people whenever the need arises in order to get his way. However the smiles are just a façade that may eventually come crumbling down, especially since his friendship with Peter makes him start to question whether he wants to continue down that road. But conning people and constantly reinventing himself is all he has ever known and it’s at the core of forming relationships for him. In this way, leaving the con behind would leave him without an identity and he would have to face the question: where do all his aliases end and where does his true self begin? It’s much easier to lose himself in different characters and keep his true feelings to himself - only Peter occasionally gets a glimpse of them and tries to help Neal overcome his inability to change, while Neal is still struggling with the question of whether he really truly wants to change.
Comments are always greatly appreciated, no matter if it's a comment to a vid I made days, months or years ago. Anonymous comments are also enabled (as always). Password: xmas. Lyrics, as always, under the embedded vid.
Streaming: vimeo
[Lyrics]Lyrics:
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
Where all the veins meet yeah
No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
Well I never pray
But tonight I'm on my knees yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airways are clean and there's nobody singing to me now
No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change
I can't change it
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
Trying to find some money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
Where all the veins meet yeah
You know I can change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
Peter: Neal, if ever you do decide to grow up, you should realize this one thing. You can either be a con or a man. You can't be both.
Genre: Character Study
Characters: mainly Neal, little bit of Peter (plus diverse people Neal has conned one way or another, over the years.)
Length: 5:19
Summary: Neal struggles in his search for his own identity.
Notes: Made as another gift for swanpride’s stocking at collarcorner. Thanks to jumpfall for the quick last-minute beta!
Additional notes: I’ve read quite a bit of vidding meta these last few weeks and I really like to read people talking about their vids, so I thought I’d try to give you a little abstract of what I wanted to convey with this vid, too:
In "Bittersweet Symphony" I try to explore the question of Neal’s identity. He is constantly taking on new personas, charming and conning people whenever the need arises in order to get his way. However the smiles are just a façade that may eventually come crumbling down, especially since his friendship with Peter makes him start to question whether he wants to continue down that road. But conning people and constantly reinventing himself is all he has ever known and it’s at the core of forming relationships for him. In this way, leaving the con behind would leave him without an identity and he would have to face the question: where do all his aliases end and where does his true self begin? It’s much easier to lose himself in different characters and keep his true feelings to himself - only Peter occasionally gets a glimpse of them and tries to help Neal overcome his inability to change, while Neal is still struggling with the question of whether he really truly wants to change.
Comments are always greatly appreciated, no matter if it's a comment to a vid I made days, months or years ago. Anonymous comments are also enabled (as always). Password: xmas. Lyrics, as always, under the embedded vid.
Streaming: vimeo
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
[Lyrics]Lyrics:
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
Where all the veins meet yeah
No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
Well I never pray
But tonight I'm on my knees yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airways are clean and there's nobody singing to me now
No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change
I can't change it
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
Trying to find some money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
Where all the veins meet yeah
You know I can change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
Peter: Neal, if ever you do decide to grow up, you should realize this one thing. You can either be a con or a man. You can't be both.