We’ve all experienced the moment when a music streaming app recommends a song based on the station or genre that you’re listening to. Recalling the first time I heard Yoann Lemoine I was immediately impressed with how his voice and the orchestral accompaniment intertwine so well to make a powerful story. The decision on selecting one song did not come easy. His album “The Golden Age” hints at a quest: the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Yoann Lemoine, also known as Woodkid, has been recognized for being a singer, songwriter, and music video director. Having directed music videos for well-known pop artists, such as, Lana del Rey and Katy Perry, he took his professional art and applied it to his own music. Each artist has something that helps them stand out more than others. For Woodkid, his music videos use a noir style that focuses on the boy (who is the main character in his videos) and preparation of an upcoming battle, symbolizing the obstacles of life. In addition, he uses other people, animals, and the theme of perseverance in order to view the story from the young boy’s point of view. The more noticeable instruments in his music are brass, piano, violin, and drums. The instruments heavily highlight Woodkid’s lyrics as it displays the strength to pursue and continue moving forward.
“The Golden Age” has three songs that relate to one another. Personally, I recommend watching the official music videos in chronological order to see if you either agree with what I see or come up with different interpretations. Woodkid, being the director and writer for the videos and songs, had a very imaginative perspective that I didn’t think of when I first watched it. His videos are a work of art and from what I gathered, the order goes “Iron”, “Run Boy Run” and “I Love You.” The one I’ve selected to discuss is “I Love You.” It is the last song in the order I listed, however it’s the one I felt I understood most, both visually and audibly.
“I Love You” shows us a fallen young boy who transitions into an adult, more specifically, a priest who tells us the past of someone, however he doesn’t mention that the story is his. What I enjoy most about this song is that the beginning samples another one of his songs from the same album, titled “The Other Side”. With “I Love You”, the music doesn’t present itself as a song that is full of hurt and despair for a loved one. When I first heard this song, I figured it was about a confession of love that was denied by the other person. Like mentioned before, it’s best to view these videos because it’s open to interpretation. I was unaware of who the man had lost in this story, but after seeing him submerge himself in the heart of the ocean it made me wonder if the man truly drowned. When the scene changed, I realized the ocean was a metaphor that represented how he emotionally died after he lost his loved one. After having braved through obstacles in the previous videos, it’s love that destroys a part of him. Going back to “The Other Side”, the song’s last line is “will end the story of a soldier in the dark.” This explains why in “I Love You”, the idea of becoming a priest and having a religion is what holds the man together, but the mere thought of retelling his story is internally agonizing for him and that every time he sees his hands his thoughts begin to deteriorate him.
Woodkid has a maturity to his voice that allows him to present his songs meticulously by connecting the story lines with one another. You can listen to the instrumental versions of each of the three songs (“Iron”, “Run Boy Run”, “I Love You”) and visualize your interpretation based on the combination of instruments. The instrumental versions are just as powerful as the original lyric versions. You may recognize each of these three songs from either video games, movies, commercials, etc. Hence why I keep reiterating how their instrumental versions can be interpreted to your liking. His creativity in developing art and music are what make him a unique artist that is able to do a remarkable job with storytelling.
Got A Million Rhymes 