Music Video Analysis

Florence + The Machine's music video Never Let Me Go is a story of death and leaving love behind. This is represented countless times throughout the video in various ways, both visually and lyrically. The theme of having to let go and leave someone/something you love behind runs continually throughout the video, clearly evident with the subject’s reluctance to let the darkness consume her. However, the shadow of death hangs over her during the film, threatening to take her at any given moment. The constant depiction of water brings an ethereal feeling to the video, as does the dark lighting and general setting. Lyrically, this song draws inspiration from the suicide of famous writer Virginia Woolf. Woolf took her own life by filling her pockets with stones and drowning herself in a river. Her suicide is also referenced in another Florence + The Machine song, ‘What the Water Gave Me’, which includes the lyrics ‘So lay me down/Let the only sound/Be the overflow/Pockets full of stones’. Knowing this backstory of the song gives another, unique insight to the meaning behind the video.

A possible interpretation for the video as a whole is that the subject is a woman who has died from drowning (either accidentally or deliberately) and is currently trapped in purgatory - that is, between heaven and hell. Purgatory is considered to be a state of suffering where the souls of sinners must go to expiate their sins before going to heaven. The woman doesn’t want to leave her love behind, even though she knows her time with him is running out, as her sins are being cleansed and are spilling out of her. This first image occurs after the subject and her love interest skate together in the ice rink while the cleaner watches on. This image is a medium close up shot, which is usually used to convey emotion and identify with characters. The subject’s eyes are closed and her and her love’s hands are entwined, indicating that they don’t want to let go of each other. Using the rule