American Heart is a song written by Jim Beavers and Jonathan Singleton, and recorded by Faith herself. It was released on September 30th, 2012 as the second single from her upcoming seventh studio album. The song was announced on her Twitter account and distributed for airplay the following day. For the Twitter debut, Faith responded to questions with the hash-tag #AskFaith prior to her weekly performance on NBC Sunday Night Football that night.
As well as the song itself, a music video premiered a month after the single was released. The music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy, who is a well known music video director in the country music industry and has worked with the likes of Dolly Parton, Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift. The video reached the number one position on the GAC countdown in early December, and in the following May, was nominated in the Female Video of the Year category for the 2013 CMT Music Awards.
The video kicks off with a series of short interviews with a group of kids. All of them are talking about what being American means to them. "We're different on the outside, but we're the same on the inside", is the big takeaway message from the video - and you get that before the music even starts. Faith shared the stage with 10-year-old T.J Jones, as they put together a choreographed number that's worthy of a broadway stage. At various points in the song, Faith steps back to let T.J. take the limelight.
The concept of the video came from the line in the song, "it bleeds, it scars, it shines when times get hard." Director Trey Fanjoy explained in the behind-the-scenes film that inspired by the lyric, "We have created a 15-foot illuminated 'American Heart' full of red, white and blue stars and stripes. There's a really special metaphor found in all of it, and each of the bulbs represents a different part of our country and a different spirit in our nation. Together, they form something that's bigger than all of us."
I really like this video as it's such a simple concept with a strong message. Studio-based music videos are always a winner in my eyes as you can do so much with them, and I love how both Faith and Trey chose to keep it simple. It's important for songs with a large and special message to keep the video to a basic structure, as the artists don't want all of the attention to focus on the video. Involving the children at the beginning and T.J within the video really shows Faith as a family-friendly artist, and this may be the image that she is trying to portray - and in my eyes, it worked!
This video falls into the "video using band/artist in a creative way" category. This category consists of 2 main features; the artist being one of the main features during the video, and being creative visually with the lyrics and song itself. With her both performing/lip syncing and acting during the video, it creates a natural and personal feel for the audience watching that the particular artist has put their own spin on the video and has a real input within the choreography.
This video is one of Faith's most involved choreography in a video yet. "When I first heard the song I was brought to tears. I not only knew I had to record it, but I almost immediately saw it visually. It's awesome and so appropriate to be able to share it with my fans first, because they've been so supportive of me throughout the years."
The beginning of Faith and T.J's appearance originates with them getting ready in what appears to be a dressing room, with T.J. almost assisting Faith as her little companion. This is portraying America, to other countries around the world, as a very friendly place, and ensuring the message is one that can be remembered. No matter how old or young you are, you can still appreciate America in all it's glory and show your appreciation, in this case, through music.
There are a number of shots that I really like during this video and they all take place within the studio, and by the looks of things, it's all down to the lighting. Silhouette's are absolutely beautiful in any music video, and create a mysterious feel to the whole production. In this video, there are a number of silhouette shots, and I have picked 3 of my favourites. I really like the way they make both Faith and T.J. complete silhouettes, and the bright blue background behind them really emphasises the shapes and dance moves they're performing.
There are a number of different lyric counts within the song, and the shots and views that are used tend to match eachother really well. For the silhouette segment pictures above, the lyrics "cause it beats like a drum down in New Orleans..." which is an upbeat, happy lyric, and the dance moves portray this throughout the video. Silhouette's also create quite a mysterious atmosphere, almost like a cover up of who a person or act really is.
Other shots I love are the mid-shots of Faith and T.J. during the entire video. They tend to appear near the chorus section and show the loving and affectionate relationship for eachother, which puts a nice family-orientated feel out for the video. This could then foreshadow the upcoming album that this single is on, and show old and new fans a snippet of what her new sound and image is, seeing as her last studio album was in 2005.
Overall, I really like the way Faith channels who she is within the song and lyrics and portrays her love for America throughout the video. Like I said, studio based much videos are always a winner for me as they are unique in their own way and portray the artist for who they really are, without taking the attention away from the song itself. The song reached at #26 in the US Country Airplay charts and is believed to reach #1 when her full album is released.
- O
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