TURN UP THE VOLUME


Artist: Weekend
Title: Turn Up The Volume
Length: 3:12
Genre: Pop, R&B
Writers: D.Blue, K.Franklin
From The Album: Fired Up: Reloaded

The Track
"Turn Up The Volume" is the fifth single (and second from Fired Up: Reloaded) from Australian/British/Irish boy band; Weekend. The group's previous single; 'Lock It Up', was a fast paced, dance stomper with heavy production however, this new song differs greatly, showing a more emotional side to the group rather than the fun, party loving one shown in previous singles. The song starts with a light, dreamy mixture of keys and strings, all complimenting each other rather well. It creates an extremely relaxed feeling for the listener, as the light sounding keys and smooth and silky violin stings play for the first 10 seconds of the song. The same arrangement remains as Oscar delivers the first verse. His rough and rock singer like vocals give the listener chills as he sings the opening lines "Eyes meet me, I look away/This can't be happening, God, no way" with emotion and hurt in voice. The same dreamy strings are still heard throughout as he continues singing the first verse in the same manner. During the last word; "away" a lower, deeper key is played which leads into the pre-chorus. The lower keys are now played along with the violin throughout the pre-chorus where Billy Khan now sings. His smooth, R&B/Urban like vocals, sung in a slightly higher pitch than Oscar's help to maintain the dreaminess of the track. He strings out the last note on 'believe' for a few seconds. As soon as Billy stops, all of the boys immediately sing together on the chorus which contains beautiful harmonies. The track takes a slightly more aggressive feeling throughout the chorus, with the sharp strumming of a guitar now coming into play, however it is mellowed down by the harmonies and the light piano keys, keeping the smooth sound. After the chorus, a playful tinkering of higher piano keys are heard along with a light, muffled sound of a snare drum played in the background before Riley takes the second verse. The song returns to the original arrangement of keys and strings as heard in the first verse. Riley's voice isn't as strong as Oscar's, however Riley's higher and more nasal sounding tone makes his verse sound more emotionally convincing than the first. As Riley sings the last word; "more", a lower key is played again to lead into the pre-chorus. Billy sings the pre-chorus again in exactly the same way with the same instrument arrangement but this time when he sings the last "won't" he sounds more aggressive and stubborn, his voice sounding rough as if shouting the word. The chorus plays again exactly like the first time. It then arrives to the bridge where only a light tinkering of the piano is provided for Dustyn to sing over. His throaty and unique voice with the Irish twang compliments the piano beautifully. When he sings the line "Don't break my heart", he sings in a higher, falsetto like voice which sounds hurt and fragile. After Dustyn finishes, the chorus repeats twice but throughout them, Billy and Dustyn ad-lib. Once they eventually finish singing, the strings of the violin continue and fade away.

ALL
BILLY
DUSTYN
OSCAR
RILEY
SCOTT

The video begins with several shots of a cold autumnal morning shown quickly within the first 5 seconds of the song; a close up of a dying leave with raindrops dripping from it, a woman holding onto her coat, fighting against the wind and a pile of leaves are showing dancing along the street with the wind. It then shows a view of a run down trailer park in a very unsafe looking area. It suddenly cuts to a couple [Riley & a dark haired actress] sitting at opposite ends of a couch watching TV in silence. Clips of the other four members are shown next. Each boy appears to be in a different are. Dustyn is seen with his hood up whilst sitting on a swing, looking down at the ground. Scott is seen walking outside the gates of the park with his hands in his coat pockets, trying to stay warm. Billy is seen in a room with walls completely covered in pictures of him and a girl. He is sitting on a black leather chair (the only piece of furniture in the room) whilst wearing headphones around his neck, clearly advertising a gold plated version of Beats by Dr. Dre. Oscar is then shown, leaning on the side of a trailer with his back against the outside wall. The beat begins to play at around 30 seconds into the video and whilst it does, scenes of children playing around the park are shown along with the image of Riley's girlfriend with her head in her hands, sighing. As the first verse begins, it switches back to Oscar outside a trailer, he looks at the camera whilst singing.

Eyes meet me, I look away
This can't be happening, God, no way
You say we need to talk
But I know what you're gonna say
So I put my headphones on and drift away

During Oscar's verse shots of Riley's girlfriend are shown shouting at Riley whilst he just remains on the couch, staring blankly at the TV. Dustyn takes his hood down and looks up at the sky, which is dull and filled with threatening grey clouds. A new couple are now also seen, arguing with each other in a trailer meanwhile children play outside it, oblivious to the stress of adult lives, completely innocent. It then cuts to Billy as he sings the pre-chorus.

It won't be over if I can't hear her say it
We can't be done, I won't believe it, no I won't believe

Billy now has his headphones on properly. He is leaning forward in his chair with his hands loosely clasped. During his first line, a window in the room is shown as opened and the wind blows some pictures off of the wall, a picture falls at Billy's feet and a close up of the photograph shows a happy couple [Billy and a blond haired girl]. Whilst singing, Billy looks down at the floor before finally looking up the camera when he sings the line '..no I won't believe'.

I can't hear her breaking my heart, if I keep replaying that song from the start
The headphones block out the sound, so my heart doesn't fall to the ground
I'll just focus on the bass, so I can't see her face
It can't be over, don't say it's over, I'm turning up the volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume

As the chorus begins, Scott walks into the trailer park. Whilst halfway in, a TV is thrown from a window of a trailer behind him however, he just ignores this (showing that this kind of behaviour is normal here) and instead he just takes out his phone (clearly promoting the iPhone 5) and looks at a text from his girlfriend which says 'We need to talk'. He just puts the phone back in his pocket. Riley sings with the rest of the group, still looking at the TV whilst his girlfriend is seen yelling at him. Dustyn sings along with the chorus, as he does so, a gang of teenagers approach the swings and start fighting in front of him, Dustyn just ignores this. Oscar moves away from the wall whilst singing along with the others and walks along the side of the trailer.

More than words are thrown, I take the blows
Although I'm dying inside, won't let it show
You get up off the sofa
Then you head towards the door
I'll just keep playing our song, more and more

As Riley sings the second verse, his girlfriend is now in tears, red faced with anger and running her hands through her hair. Riley looks into the camera as he delivers his lines. In another trailer, the arguing couple shown earlier on are throwing objects at each other. The woman then takes the man's suitcase and throws it out of the door along with the guy. The playing children stop and look at the man, wondering what's going on. The sound of thunder is heard and it starts to rain. Dustyn remains on the swing, looking bored, as the gang continues to fight next to him. Oscar runs to find shelter, jumping over the guy's suitcase that was just thrown out. A brief shot of an aggressive looking Rottweiler is shown barking at the camera whilst it is chained up outside a trailer.

It won't be over if I can't hear her say it
We can't be done, I won't believe it, no I won't believe

As Billy sings the pre-chorus for the second time, the wind coming from the opened window is now a lot stronger, blowing nearly all of the photographs off the wall and onto the floor. He holds one photo in his hand, a picture of their wedding day.

I can't hear her breaking my heart, if I keep replaying that song from the start
The headphones block out the sound, so my heart doesn't fall to the ground
I'll just focus on the bass, so I can't see her face
It can't be over, don't say it's over, I'm turning up the volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume

As the chorus returns, Riley's girlfriend storms out and looks up at the sky, letting the rain fall all over her face, soaking her. Billy tears up the wedding photograph. Oscar stands in the middle of the park, not caring about the rain and sings as the camera moves around him. A tear is seen falling from Riley's eye. Scott opens the door to his trailer and looks at his girlfriend who is crying. Dustyn then gets up off the wing walks right through the fighting teens and looks into the camera.

Don't say it's over,
I refuse to believe so, I'm blasting the stereo
Don't break my heart
I don't wanna hear it, so I'm gonna turn up the volume

Dustyn walks forward and the camera moves back with each one of Dustyn's steps. He delivers the bridge of the song and as he does so, shots of Billy tearing up the photographs in a fit of rage are shown. It then shows Scott's girlfriend holding a positive pregnancy test, the pair then hug and start packing, leaving the horrid park behind. Riley then catches up with his girlfriend and puts his arm around her.

I can't hear her breaking my heart, if I keep replaying that song from the start
The headphones block out the sound, so my heart doesn't fall to the ground
I'll just focus on the bass, so I can't see her face
It can't be over, don't say it's over, I'm turning up the volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume

The chorus returns again and Riley, Scott and their girlfriends, Oscar and Dustyn all walk towards the gates of the park. The children and the now unchained dog then follow. The arguing couple then see everyone leaving and decide to follow suit. Others who live in the park look out of their windows and leave their trailers one by one. By this time it is night and the rain has subsided a little. Billy is then seen dropping a match onto the floor. All the pictures catch flames. He casually walks out.

I can't hear her breaking my heart, if I keep replaying that song from the start
The headphones block out the sound, so my heart doesn't fall to the ground
I'll just focus on the bass, so I can't see her face
It can't be over, don't say it's over, I'm turning up the volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume
Turn up the volume, volume

As the chorus repeats, the boys sing from outside the park, looking in through the gates. The whole community look through the gates too. A shot of a gas canister is shown, surrounded by flames. It then explodes, causing a trailer to blow up. A domino effect then happens as each trailer then catches fire and explodes. Billy walks with his hands in his pockets, ignoring the explosions behind him. He then joins the others. They all look on, watching their old, horrible and depressing lives go up in flames, ready to embark on a new, positive one.

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